The Crime of Padre Amaro

The Crime of Padre Amaro (El crimen del padre Amaro, 2002) is a Mexican drama directed by Carlos Carrera — watch it online on iFILM. Gael García Bernal plays a freshly ordained priest sent to a small-town parish to assist the aging Father Benito. His vow of celibacy starts cracking the moment he meets sixteen-year-old Amelia, played by Ana Claudia Talancón.

What follows is not a simple love story. The young priest discovers that Benito has long been living a double life of his own, and the entire parish operates on an unspoken code of silence. Director Carrera keeps the tone cool and clinical — he's less interested in scandal than in the quiet machinery of hypocrisy inside an institution people trust with their souls.

The film became the highest-grossing Mexican production in the country's box-office history at the time of its release and landed on the Academy Award shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film. Stream The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002) online on iFILM.