Twist of Faith
Encyclopedia
Twist of Faith is a 2004 American
documentary film
directed by Kirby Dick
about a man who confronts the Catholic Church about the abuse he suffered as a teenager. The film was produced for the cable network HBO and screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.
, who was first sexually abused by a Catholic priest when he was a fourteen-year-old student at a Catholic high school. Feeling ashamed, Comes kept his secret for nearly 20 years but was forced to confront his past after discovering that the priest, Dennis Gray, was living on the same street as Comes, his wife, and their two young children. Comes decided to go public and bring a lawsuit against the priest and Church leaders who had neglected to take action after reading a series of investigative stories in The Toledo Blade revealing sweeping patterns of abuse and cover up in the diocese—including interviews with other Gray victims.
The filmmakers gave Comes and his wife camcorders which they used to record many of the film's scenes. Twist of Faith also includes other older family footage, including a scene in which Comes explains his abuse to his nine-year-old daughter.
The film also features interviews with several other men who had been abused by Gray, and these survivors reunite to discuss their continuing struggles. Other scenes include Dennis Gray's deposition in which he avoids responding to charges of abuse and coverup, Comes's confrontation with his mother about her decision to stand by the Catholic Church, and Comes's visit to a conference held by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)
.
based on 21 reviews with an average rating of 8.2 out of 10. Rotten Tomatoes also listed Twist of Faith as the best film of 2005. Metacritic
gave the documentary a score of 70 out of 100, based on 9 reviews.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Twist of Faith is a "touching yet complicated film" which "let victims of sex abuse realize they are not alone." Shawn Hubler of The Los Angeles Times said the film was “filled with important truths about humanity in all its denominations" and Variety
Dennis Harvey saw it as a “powerful and damning look at the long-term impact of sexual abuse”. Many critics were particularly impressed by the scenes that Comes and his family had videotaped themselves.
Twist of Faith was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 77th Academy Awards
and was also in competition for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
.
had pressured the theater to keep the film from playing in Toledo. A Maumee official denied this claim and said that the theater could not afford to screen the film. The film's distributor contested this claim and said that it had been willing to make any concession in order to screen the film in Comes' hometown.
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Kirby Dick
Kirby Dick
Kirby Dick is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for directing documentary films. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature for directing Twist of Faith...
about a man who confronts the Catholic Church about the abuse he suffered as a teenager. The film was produced for the cable network HBO and screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.
Content
The film focuses on Tony Comes, a firefighter from Toledo, OhioToledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, who was first sexually abused by a Catholic priest when he was a fourteen-year-old student at a Catholic high school. Feeling ashamed, Comes kept his secret for nearly 20 years but was forced to confront his past after discovering that the priest, Dennis Gray, was living on the same street as Comes, his wife, and their two young children. Comes decided to go public and bring a lawsuit against the priest and Church leaders who had neglected to take action after reading a series of investigative stories in The Toledo Blade revealing sweeping patterns of abuse and cover up in the diocese—including interviews with other Gray victims.
The filmmakers gave Comes and his wife camcorders which they used to record many of the film's scenes. Twist of Faith also includes other older family footage, including a scene in which Comes explains his abuse to his nine-year-old daughter.
The film also features interviews with several other men who had been abused by Gray, and these survivors reunite to discuss their continuing struggles. Other scenes include Dennis Gray's deposition in which he avoids responding to charges of abuse and coverup, Comes's confrontation with his mother about her decision to stand by the Catholic Church, and Comes's visit to a conference held by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, established in 1989, is the oldest and most active support group of survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their supporters in the United States...
.
Reception
The film won acclaim from critics and earned a 100% rating from Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 21 reviews with an average rating of 8.2 out of 10. Rotten Tomatoes also listed Twist of Faith as the best film of 2005. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the documentary a score of 70 out of 100, based on 9 reviews.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Twist of Faith is a "touching yet complicated film" which "let victims of sex abuse realize they are not alone." Shawn Hubler of The Los Angeles Times said the film was “filled with important truths about humanity in all its denominations" and Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
Dennis Harvey saw it as a “powerful and damning look at the long-term impact of sexual abuse”. Many critics were particularly impressed by the scenes that Comes and his family had videotaped themselves.
Twist of Faith was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 77th Academy Awards
77th Academy Awards
The 77th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2004 and were held on February 27, 2005, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by comedian Chris Rock.The nominees were announced on January 25, 2005...
and was also in competition for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
.
Maumee Theater controversy
In anticipation of the film's theatrical release, Twist of Faith received a premiere screening at the publicly-owned Maumee Indoor Theater in Toledo. The screening sold out, and the film received a standing ovation. However, the theater refused to screen the film after this initial showing despite considerable interest from the public. Comes, Dick, and a spokesperson for SNAP said they believed that the Toledo DioceseRoman Catholic Diocese of Toledo
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo is a Roman Catholic diocese covering nineteen counties in Ohio. It was established April 15, 1910. Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral is the mother church of the diocese.-Bishops:...
had pressured the theater to keep the film from playing in Toledo. A Maumee official denied this claim and said that the theater could not afford to screen the film. The film's distributor contested this claim and said that it had been willing to make any concession in order to screen the film in Comes' hometown.
See also
- Roman Catholic sex abuse casesRoman Catholic sex abuse casesThe Catholic sex abuse cases are a series of convictions, trials and ongoing investigations into allegations of sex crimes committed by Catholic priests and members of religious orders. These cases began receiving public attention beginning in the mid-1980s...
- Deliver Us from Evil (2006 film)Deliver Us from Evil (2006 film)Deliver Us from Evil is a documentary film directed by Amy J. Berg which tells the true story of Catholic priest Oliver O'Grady, who admitted to having molested and raped approximately 25 children in Northern California between the late 1970s and early 1990s...
- Sex Crimes and the Vatican (Panorama Documentary Episode)
- Bad EducationBad EducationBad Education is a 2004 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar and starring Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Daniel Giménez Cacho and Lluís Homar. The plot is about two reunited childhood friends in the vein of a murder mystery...
(Spanish: La mala educación) a 2004 film by Spanish director Pedro AlmodóvarPedro AlmodóvarPedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...
that deals with clerical sex abuse - Killing KasztnerKilling KasztnerKilling Kasztner is a feature-length theatrical documentary directed by Gaylen Ross. The film features the director and her search for the truth about Rezso Kasztner. The director first heard about Kasztner from a Hungarian woman while working on another documentary, Blood Money: Switzerland's Nazi...
; Blake LeyhBlake LeyhBlake Leyh is a composer, sound designer, and music supervisor.Leyh's prominent credits include music supervising HBO's television show The Wire, most notably the end theme called "The Fall" written by Leyh especially for the show and composing original scores for the films of Kirby Dick Blake...
served as composer for this feature-length documentary about the work and assassination of Rezso Kasztner - Shame, Sin and Secrets: investigative series by Michael D. Sallah and David Yonke, The Toledo Blade, December 1, 2 and 3, 2002.
External links
- Official website
- Twist of Faith at The Internet Movie Database
- Twist of Faith at Allmovie
- Most Controversial Highlights in the 1962 Ottaviani Directive (English)