Most of the documentary focuses on the lawyer and the one survivor Rod MacLeod going through deliberations and how they want to have the church pay for what they did. They are both aware of plenty other situations where the church did out of court settlements but Rod wanted none of it. The doc takes us through the journey of the lawyer preparing the case and the case actually happening. We are, of course, not taken inside the courtroom. For Rod, the trial isn’t about getting revenge on his deceased abuser or even about the money. It’s about public accountability, something that the Catholic Church has strenuously sought to avoid through protection of abusers, delusions of faith, and a well oiled PR machine. They bring in some of the other victims of Father and paint a clear picture of what really perspired. In a historic win, the court order the church to pay 2.5M dollars.
Most vivid here is an archival testimony of the perpetrator, the late Hodgson Marshall, on the witness stand in 2012, calmly acknowledging his long history of abusing boys, with the bizarre explanation that such things weren’t taken so seriously back then. It was also chocking to see the fathe, who was the media representative of the church, who describes his friend, Hodson Marshall, as a good man suffering from pedophilia, a rationalization that manages to compound bad science with bad faith. Sadly, there are priests today who are still doing this. There are priests being investigated now. There are enablers covering this up. The Catholic Church has been taken to task for their crimes and cover-ups before, but Prey might be the first film to illustrate exactly how one goes about prosecuting such a wealthy and powerful entity and the bravery needed to bring such well protected abusers to justice. (6.5/10)
Comments