Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Conspiracy of Silence

  • 20032003
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
404
YOUR RATING
Conspiracy of Silence (2003)
A can of worms is opened within the Irish Catholic Church, following the suicide of a parish priest, and the expulsion of a young trainee, on the grounds that he was open to sexual advances from a male colleague.
Play trailer2:20
1 Video
9 Photos
CrimeDramaThriller
A can of worms is opened within the Irish Catholic Church following two controversial incidents: the suicide of parish priest Frank Sweeney; and the expulsion of Daniel McLaughlin, a young t... Read allA can of worms is opened within the Irish Catholic Church following two controversial incidents: the suicide of parish priest Frank Sweeney; and the expulsion of Daniel McLaughlin, a young trainee priest from a nearby seminary, on the grounds that he was open to the sexual advanc... Read allA can of worms is opened within the Irish Catholic Church following two controversial incidents: the suicide of parish priest Frank Sweeney; and the expulsion of Daniel McLaughlin, a young trainee priest from a nearby seminary, on the grounds that he was open to the sexual advances of a male colleague. Local journalist David Foley is convinced that Sweeney's death and... Read all
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
404
YOUR RATING
    • John Deery
    • John Deery
  • Stars
    • Jonathan Forbes
    • Brenda Fricker
    • Niall O'Brien
    • John Deery
    • John Deery
  • Stars
    • Jonathan Forbes
    • Brenda Fricker
    • Niall O'Brien
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 10User reviews
    • 18Critic reviews
    • 46Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:20
    Watch Trailer

    Photos9

    Hugh Bonneville
    Brenda Fricker
    Conspiracy of Silence (2003)
    Theatrical Poster
    Conspiracy of Silence (2003)
    Conspiracy of Silence (2003)
    Conspiracy of Silence (2003)
    On set of Conspiracy of Silence

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jonathan Forbes
    Jonathan Forbes
    • Daniel McLaughlin
    Brenda Fricker
    Brenda Fricker
    • Annie McLaughlin
    Niall O'Brien
    • John McLaughlin
    Catherine Cusack
    Catherine Cusack
    • Mary McLaughlin
    Elaine Symons
    • Marie McLaughlin
    Tommy Carey
    • Sean McLaughlin
    Paudge Behan
    • Niall McLaughlin
    Jason Barry
    Jason Barry
    • David Foley
    Olivia Caffrey
    • Liz Foley
    Anna Rose Fullen
    • Martha Foley
    Hugh Bonneville
    Hugh Bonneville
    • Father Dowling
    John Lynch
    John Lynch
    • Father Francis
    Jim Norton
    Jim Norton
    • Bishop Quinn
    Sean McGinley
    Sean McGinley
    • Rector Cathal
    Harry Towb
    Harry Towb
    • Father Doherty
    Hugh Quarshie
    Hugh Quarshie
    • Father Joseph
    Padraig O'Loinsigh
    • Father Sweeney
    • (as Patrick Lynch)
    Fintan McKeown
    Fintan McKeown
    • Monsignor Thomas
      • John Deery
      • John Deery
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Conspiracy of Silence
    6.5
    Conspiracy of Silence
    Conspiracy of Silence
    7.7
    Conspiracy of Silence
    Conspiracy of Silence
    7.8
    Conspiracy of Silence
    The Intended
    5.8
    The Intended
    Milk
    6.0
    Milk
    Hotel Very Welcome
    6.4
    Hotel Very Welcome
    Love After Love
    5.5
    Love After Love
    Bonekickers
    4.9
    Bonekickers
    Omagh
    7.2
    Omagh
    Cloudburst
    7.2
    Cloudburst
    7.8
    The Conspiracy of Silence
    The Weekend
    6.0
    The Weekend

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The screenplay was developed at the Sundance Screenwriters' Lab in Utah.
    • Quotes

      Daniel McLaughlin: Ya, I was celibate... from the moment I joined the seminary... until last night.

    • Soundtracks
      All I Want Is You
      Written by Bono ( as Hewson), Adam Clayton (as Clayton),The Edge (as Evans), Larry Mullen Jr. (as Mullen)

      Used by permission of Blue Mountain Music Ltd/Rykomusic Ltd

      Performed by Bellefire

      Licensed by courtesy of Virgin Records Limited

    User reviews10

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    A Very Fine, Fascinating Film That Seems to be Unfinished
    CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE is a moody, dark, probing inquiry into the concept of celibacy of priests in the Catholic Church in Ireland and all the way to the Vatican. The concept, story and script by Writer/Director John Deery are tight, arrow sharp in aim, but ultimately unresolved issues cloud the success of what could have been a pungent movie.

    Set in a seminary in Ireland for preparing young men for the priesthood, we are introduced to some warmly human characters such as Daniel McLaughlin (Jonathan Forbes), a squeaky clean lad who gave up a girlfriend Sinead (Catherine Walker) to follow his (and his family's) life ambition to become a priest. Naive, warm, loving, athletic and bright, he is the seminary poster boy - until one evening after hours he innocently visits a fellow seminarian's room and is the focus of seduction by the student who kindly says 'we're all only human and have our needs'. Daniel gently declines the advances, leaves the student's room but is observed by an old priest with demons of his own. The priest reports the incident and Daniel is abruptly thrown out of the seminary by the evil Rector Cathal (Sean McGinley) for being homosexual - a charge that couldn't be farther from the truth.

    At the same time in another part of the seminary the fine Father Sweeney dresses in all his priestly regalia and commits suicide is a gruesome way. His suicide is threatening to the staff of the seminary and a cover-up is immediately put in place. It seems Father Sweeney some four years ago had stirred controversy in the Vatican by publicly exposing his HIV status, alerting the Church and the world that HIV was rampant in the world wide Church. His partner left the priesthood, disillusioned, but following FR Sweeney to the seminary in Ireland.

    An earnest reporter David Foley (Jason Barry) begins the investigation of the suicide and in doing so finds the reason for Daniel's expulsion as well as the myriad dark secrets being covered by the Church - all to do with the concept of celibacy and the inevitable sequelae of sensual deprivation on priests. One Father Jack Dowling (Hugh Bonneville) supports David and Daniel and is disenchanted with the behavior of the Church against its own priests. Then, without resolving any of these fascinating strings of thought the movie ends, leaving many questions unanswered - as though there are no answers.

    The acting is uniformly strong (including the likes of Brenda Fricker as Daniel's mother et al), for once giving a spectrum of the priesthood that is not favoring bad or good. These characters are men with convictions and none can be faulted for their stances. The setting in Ireland is magnificently captured by cinematographer Jason Lehel, and Francis Haines and Stephen W. Parsons provide a hauntingly beautiful musical score. As far as it takes us this is a fine film. Perhaps Deery is planning Part II to finish this story! Grady Harp
    helpful•10
    0
    • gradyharp
    • Aug 21, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 20, 2006 (Mexico)
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Callington, Cornwall, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Little Wing Films
      • Flick Features
      • Mogirl Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 30 minutes
      • Color
      • Dolby Digital

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Conspiracy of Silence (2003)
    Top Gap
    What is the English language plot outline for Conspiracy of Silence (2003)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.