''Conspiracy of Silence'' is a British drama film set in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and inspired by real events. The film challenges

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied ...

and its implication for the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the 21st century. Written and directed by

John Deery John Deery is a British-Irish award-winning director, producer and screenwriter. Early life Born in Birkenhead, Merseyside, across the River Mersey from Liverpool, he was brought up in County Donegal and Birkenhead. His parents and family are ...

, the cast includes: Academy Award-winner

Brenda Fricker Brenda Fricker (born 17 February 1945) is an Irish actress, whose career has spanned six decades on stage and screen. She has appeared in more than 30 films and television roles. In 1990, she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Awar ...

Hugh Bonneville Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams (born 10 November 1963), known professionally as Hugh Bonneville, is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey'' from ...

Chris O'Dowd Christopher O'Dowd (born 9 October 1979) is an Irish actor and comedian. He received wide attention as Roy Trenneman, one of the lead characters in the Channel 4 comedy ''The IT Crowd'', which ran for four seasons from 2006 to 2010. He has star ...

, John Lynch, Jonathan Forbes, Jason Barry, Sean McGinley,

Fintan McKeown Fintan McKeown is an Irish actor best known for his guest appearances on '' Star Trek: Voyager'', ''Merlin'', and ''Game of Thrones'', and for his supporting roles in the films ''Immortal Beloved'' (1994) and '' Waking Ned Devine'' (1998). Sinc ...

, Jim Norton and

Hugh Quarshie Hugh Anthony Quarshie (born 22 December 1954) is a Ghanaian-born British actor. He is known for his long-running role as Ric Griffin on the BBC One medical drama ''Holby City'' (2001–20), and for playing Captain Panaka in the ''Star Wars'' ...

. The movie won many international awards including the U.S.

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered the first major harbinger of the film awards season that ...

of Motion Pictures' Freedom of Expression Award in 2004, which it shared with Michael Moore's ''

Fahrenheit 9/11 ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed, written by, and starring Michael Moore. The subjects of the film are the presidency of George W. Bush, the Iraq War, and the media's coverage of the war. In the film, Moore state ...

'' and

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...

's ''

The Passion of the Christ ''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson from a screenplay he wrote with Benedict Fitzgerald. It stars Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as the Bl ...

''. Deery was also nominated for Best Film Director at the Irish Film Awards in 2003. The screenplay was developed at the

Sundance Screenwriters' Lab Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compos ...

in Utah and won the Hartley-Merrill International Screenwriting Award presented to Deery at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in 2001. The film was invited to be shown at many

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

s in 2003 to be in Competition and/or Official Selection including: Taormina, Italy (first public screening, June 2003),

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...

, Opening Night film at the Galway Film Festival, Ireland, Montreal Film Festival, Hamburg Film Festival, Warsaw Film Festival where it won a Special Jury Award, Dinard Festival of British Cinema, France, and the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

(AFI) Festival in Los Angeles. It received an art house release in the United States. The film is available on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

in the UK.

Plot

Father Sweeney ( Patrick Casey), a gay Catholic priest living with HIV, commits suicide. His death leads local investigative journalist David Foley ( Jason Barry) to write a story that publicly identifies Sweeney as having HIV. At the local seminary, two students near ordination are expelled because one, Daniel ( Jonathon Forbes) was seen leaving the room of the other, Niall ( Paudge Behan). Niall is gay and Daniel is straight and they engaged in no sexual activity but were still expelled for the sake of appearances. Daniel returns home, where he is torn between his calling to the priesthood and his love for his ex-girlfriend Sinead ( Catherine Walker). Daniel meets with Foley, who writes a follow-up article exposing a covered-up AIDS protest that Sweeney had staged at the Vatican three years earlier and Daniel's dismissal. He also alleges that cardinals close to the Pope are engaged in sexual relationships and calls on the Church to re-examine its celibacy requirement for priests. The local bishop, Michael Quinn ( Jim Norton), pressures the editor of the local paper not to run the second story. The editor acquiesces but after reading the story sends it to the ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', which prints it. The next day the bishop, his aide, Foley and Daniel appear together in a live television debate. Before the broadcast, agents of the Church threaten to harm Foley's family unless he retracts his story on the air. Bishop Quinn offers to reinstate Daniel if Daniel is willing to admit he has been wrong. On-air Foley capitulates but Daniel does not, asking the bishop if he himself practices celibacy. When the bishop refuses to answer, Father Sweeney's partner, former priest Matthew Francis ( John Lynch) confronts Quinn with Sweeney's suicide note in which Sweeney discloses that Quinn and he had had an affair. At film's end, Daniel is back at home with Sinead.

Cast

* Jonathan Forbes ... Daniel McLaughlin *

... Fr. Jack Dowling *

... Annie McLaughlin * Seán McGinley ... Fr. Rector Cathal *

... Fr. Joseph Ennis, S.J. * Jason Barry ... David Foley * Paudge Behan ... Niall *

Sean Boru Sean Boru (born Desmond Patrick Bruen; 20 March 1953, in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland – 14 February 2011, in Essex, United Kingdom) was an Irish people, Irish actor and author. Career In 2005 Boru wrote a one-man stage show called ''An ...

... Father Murphy *Olivia Caffrey ... Liz Foley *Tommy Carey ... Sean *Padraig O'Loinsigh (as Patrick Lynch) ... Fr. Frank Sweeney * Carmel Cryan ... Mrs. McDermott *

Catherine Cusack Catherine Cusack (born 21 December 1968) is a British actress. She is best known for portraying Nanny Carmel Finnan in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in 1992 and 1993. Early life and career Cusack was born on 21 Decem ...

... Mary McLaughlin *

Patrick Doyle Patrick Doyle (born 6 April 1953) is a Scottish composer and occasional actor best known for his film scores. During his 50-year career in film, television and theatre, he has composed the scores for over 60 feature films. A longtime collaborato ...

... Senior Umpire #1 * Patrick Duggan ... Micky *Christopher Dunne ... Fr. Martin Hennessy *Jim Dunne ... Senior Umpire #2 * James Ellis ... Jim O'Brien *Anna Rose Fullen ... Martha *Jim Howlin ... Team Manager * Jason Kavanagh ... Liam * Sinead Keenan ... Majella * John Lynch ... Fr. Matthew Francis *

Edward MacLiam Edward MacLiam (born Edward Wilson in 1976) is an Irish actor, known for his roles as Greg Douglas in the BBC medical drama ''Holby City'' and identical twins Adam and Gareth Regan in the BBC soap opera ''Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor ...

... Fitzpatrick *

Owen McDonnell Owen McDonnell (born 1974) is an Irish actor. He is known for his roles in the RTÉ drama '' Single-Handed'' (2007–2010), the TG4 Western ''An Klondike'' (2015–2017), and the BBC spy thriller ''Killing Eve'' (2018–2022). Early life McDon ...

... Noel *

... Monsignor Thomas * Kevin McMahon ... Donal *Brendan McNamara ... Declan *Justine Mitchell ... Assistant Floor Manager *Ciaran Murtagh ... Michael * Jim Norton ... Bishop Michael Quinn * Niall O'Brien ... John *

... James *Aidan O'Hara ... Paul *Lillian Patton ... Molly * Sid Rainey ... Joe *Phil Roache ... Supporter *Fergal Spelman ... TV Director * Elaine Symons ... Marie *

Harry Towb Harry Towb (27 July 1925 – 24 July 2009) was an actor from Northern Ireland. Early life and career Towb was born in Larne, County Antrim, to a Russian-Jewish father and an Irish-Jewish mother; he once claimed he was the only Jew ever born i ...

... Father Doherty * Catherine Walker ... Sinead *Nuala Walsh ... Mrs. McGlynn

Release

The film got a limited US theatrical release in December 2004, following its festival screenings.

2014 re-release

The film was re-launched at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

in February 2014 by a new US boutique sales company, Angel Grace Productions, headed by Michael Fister.

Reception

Critical response

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official website - Angel Grace Productions
* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, conspiracy_of_silence 2003 films 2003 drama films 2003 independent films British independent films Irish independent films Films critical of the Catholic Church British LGBTQ-related films Irish LGBTQ-related films Films about LGBTQ and Christianity HIV/AIDS in British films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films 2003 LGBTQ-related films 2000s LGBTQ-related drama films English-language independent films English-language drama films