Today it seems absurd how much of a stink was caused by the release of Priest, the debut feature film for a pair of lauded TV veterans, director Antonia Bird and screenwriter Jimmy McGovern (creator of Cracker). Dealing with multiple hot button topics as real-life scandals were erupting around the Catholic Church, the film was picked up for a hefty price tag by Miramax for its U.S. release (with twelve minutes trimmed out) complete with a deliberately provocative opening weekend timed around Easter. The film split critics at the time and fared about on par for an average Miramax art film at the time, when they were clearly hoping for a buzzy controversial hit a la The Crying Game. Since then the film has had a spotty home video history with the cut version available on U.S. VHS and DVD for brief periods of time and the uncut one only on U.K. VHS and Italian DVD for many years. That's largely why the film hardly ever gets mentioned anymore, but the 2025 Blu-ray special edition from the BFI should hopefully rectify that and gain a new audience for one of the most audacious mainstream U.K. productions of the '90s.

In an urban Liverpool parish, newly arrived Father Greg Pilkington (Mandy's Roache) steps in after his predecessor left in a fit of rage charging the Bishop's office with a wooden cross. Father Greg is immediately at odds with Father Matthew Thomas (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's Wilkinson) and his more lenient sermons and sexual relationship with housekeeper Maria (Mona Lisa's Tyson). However, it soon turns out that Father Greg is gay but closeted as he starts a tentative relationship with Graham (Carlyle, who reteamed with Bird on Ravenous). Adding to his inner torment is a confession by young parishioner Lisa (Tremarco) that her father has been molesting her, with the latter completely unrepentant when he confirms it in confession himself. With two moral powder kegs about to go off, it's only a matter of time before the entire community has to deal with what's happening under the surface.

Though it frequently feels like it could have been at home on a TV anthology series like Play for Today or ScreenPlay, Priest benefits greatly from the luxury of shooting in 35mm and boasts an exceptional cast across the board. It's no wonder Wilkinson in particular grabbed attention and became a Hollywood staple soon after until his untimely death, but everyone does fine work here with Bird (who also passed far too young) showing the strong dramatic chops she'd already honed on the small screen. It's also fun seeing Carlyle here in an early supporting role, already known in the U.K. from Riff-Raff but about to break through international in Trainspotting and The Full Monty. For the record, the U.S. version primarily differs with the omission of an entire character, Charlie (Paul Barber, also in The Full Monty), Father Greg's opinionated gym buddy with whom he shares spirited and humorous theological debates. It's a shame these scenes were cut as they give the film a bit of light counterpoint; also removed was the recurring use of the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" including a choral performance in church.

After years of deeply substandard home video presentations, Priest finally got a worthy presentation with that 2025 Blu-ray featuring very satisfying presentation of the uncut version with much better detail and color than before. The DTS-HD MA 2.0 English stereo audio also sounds excellent and comes with optional English SDH subtitles. McGovern is represented twice here, first with "The BAFTA & BFI Screenwriters’ Lecture Series" interview (2016, 27m2s) with journalist Miranda Sawyer about his general tactics and thought processes as writer. More specific is a new 14m23s interview with McGovern about this film in particular and the evolution of the storyline (which didn't originally have the gay element), his approach to religion, and how theology and morality affect his work in general including some BBC projects. The 1995 "The Guardian Interview" with Bird (1995, 71m35s) features the wonderfully vivacious filmmaker talking about her learning process, her work in TV, her segue to features, and a lot of funny anecdotes in between. In the new "I Miss Those Days" (17m43s), Roache chats about growing up influenced by actor parents, his decision to follow in their footsteps and audition for the RSC as a juvenile, and his take on the character in this film which he found to be more straightforward than you might expect. "The Take: Priest" (3m49s) is a quick Simon O'Brien presentation on the film as an expression of McGovern's views as a writer, followed by the 1953 black-and-white amateur documentary short The Priest (22m5s) capturing day-to-day work of men of the cloth in their communities in Brentwood and Romford. The first pressing also comes with an insert booklet with new essays by Lillian Crawford, Rachel Pronger, and Mark Duguid.

Reviewed on November 26, 2025