subject—intolerance vs. understanding. There's some preachiness in Priest, and yet you go away feeling the embrace of something lovely and spiritual." Gary Kamiya of The San Francisco Examiner observed, "After watching this film, you feel as if Martin Luther had hammered every one of his 95 theses onto various parts of your anatomy, using dull thumbtacks. And although Priest is not without intelligence, humor and pathos, in the end it's little more than a tendentious melodrama. One can sympathize with [its] progressive politics... and still feel that director Antonia Bird and screenwriter Jimmy McGovern have made things much too easy for themselves... Priest is less a work of art than an Op-ed piece; as such, whatever virtues it has exist in the sociological sphere, not the aesthetic." Rita Kempley of The Washington Post said, "Part soap opera and part propaganda, this sometimes affecting drama presents a one-sided examination of the church's teachings on homosexuality and the celibacy of its clergy... Roache, a veteran of British stage and television, gives a stirring performance, which crests in the film's transcendent finale. Beautifully sustained by the actors and well directed by Bird, this last scene is an emotional epiphany for both the characters and the audience, all bathed in the balm of forgiveness." Box office Opening on eight screens in the United States, it grossed $113,430 on its opening weekend, and eventually grossed $4,165,845 in the US and Canada. Accolades The film was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Film but lost to Shallow Grave. It won the People's Choice Award at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival, was named Best New British Feature at the 1994 Edinburgh International Film Festival, and won the Teddy Award at the 1995 Berlin International Film Festival. References External links 1994 films British drama films 1994 drama films Films about Catholic priests British LGBT-related films LGBT culture in Liverpool Films about LGBT and Christianity Films about sexual repression Films directed by Antonia Bird Films critical of the Catholic Church Gay-related films BBC Film films Incest in film Films shot in England LGBT-related drama films 1994 LGBT-related films 1995 drama films 1995 films Disney controversies LGBT-related controversies in film Religious controversies in film Religious controversies in the United States Films shot in Greater Manchester 1990s English-language films 1990s British films Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award winners