15 Most Powerful Documentaries Of The Decade (So Far)

10. Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God

Back in 2005, Amy J. Berg directed the revealing documentary Deliver Us From Evil, exploring the life and crimes of Catholic priest Oliver O'Grady, who molested dozens of children before his conviction and seven years imprisonment. Nearly a decade later and the issue of abuse within the Catholic church remains as troubling as ever before, and HBO's 2012 documentary Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence In The House Of God offered a deeper look into the subject. Director Alex Gibney demonstrates how the practice of the church in covering up cases of abuse has continued, involving a "conspiracy of silence" (which just happens to be the name of another documentary offering a disturbing insight into institutional child abuse) right up to the Vatican. The account of the four deaf people who bring their accounts of abuse to the documentary are predictably disturbing, but the real shock comes with the realisation that there are no doubt countless other victims whose voices have never been heard.