"Calvary," as with Christianity's New Testament event from which the film derives its title, is difficult, brutal and shocking.

The film begins in a confessional booth in a Roman Catholic church in Ireland where Father James Lavelle (Brendan Gleeson), a fiftysomething Irish priest, is told he will be killed the following Sunday by the very person to whom he is giving confession.The supplicant boasts that he will revel in killing "a good priest."By all accounts, Father James is indeed, and in word, a good, if not a perfect priest. He is a teetotaler because, he says, he likes to drink a bit too much. Father James is a widower who entered the priesthood after his wife died.The threat is put aside as we follow Father James during a week of priestly duties as he ministers to a "Canterbury Tales" cadre of colorful characters in County Sligo, a rural area on Ireland's northwest coast.There's Jack (Chris O'Dowd), a meat cutter by trade whose wife, Veronica (Orla O'Rourke), is having an affair with Simon (Isaach De Bankolé), an auto mechanic.There's Fiona (Kelly Reilly), the depressed daughter of Father James.There's Father Leary (David Wilmot), Father James' co-celebrant at his church; Dr. Frank Harte (Aidan Gillen), a cynical medical doctor; Michael Fitzgerald (Dylan Moran), a wealthy investor who lives on an estate; a novelist only identified as The Writer (M. Emmet Walsh); Milo (Killian Scott), a confused young man; Leo (Owen Sharpe), a gigolo; Freddie (Domhnall Gleeson, son of Brendan Gleeson), a convict; Teresa (Marie-Josée Croze), recently widowed, and Police Inspector Stanton (Gary Lydon).There are even a few more characters.If this seems like a busload of characters for one film, it is. It's perhaps too many, allowing the screenwriter-director to skip from one to the other rather than focus on Father James.Father James treats whatever outrage is flung in his bearded face with the equanimity of a saint.There's no neurosis barred in "Calvary," written and directed by John Michael McDonagh (screenwriter-director, "The Guard," 2011, which also starred Brendan Gleeson; and screenwriter, "Ned Kelly," 2003). John Michael McDonagh is the brother of playwright, screenwriter and director Martin McDonagh.The dialogue in "Calvary" is crisp, often witty, and frequently humorous in that darkly Irish way.The cinematography by Director of Photography Larry Smith ("The Guard") contrasts the wide open vistas of the bright windswept coast along Streedagh beach with the closed-in, dark interiors of taverns and churches in the town of Easkey.Gleeson ("The Guard") gives another of his remarkable performances, imbuing Father James with a kindly stoicism and knowing appreciation of human foibles, starting with his own. Look for an actor Oscar nomination for Gleeson.Reilly ("Heaven Is For Real," 2014) is radiant as his daughter.O'Dowd (TV's "Girls," "Family Tree," "The IT Crowd") is chilling as a troubled congregant with an agenda.While one shouldn't be worshipful about the film, "Calvary" is worth treating with reverence.Calvary," MPAA Rated R (Restricted. Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.) for sexual references, language, brief strong violence and some drug use; Genre: Drama; Run time: 1 hr., 40 min.; Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.Credit Readers Anonymous: "Calvary" was filmed in Strandhill, Easkey, Rockwood Patade, all County Sligo, and Rush, County Dublin, Ireland.Box Office, Sept 12: "No Good Deed" opened at No. 1 with $24.5 million, one week; keeping "Dolphin Tale 2" opening at No. 2, $16.6 million, dropping "Guardians Of The Galaxy" from its No. 1 run to No. 3, $8 million, $305.9 million, seven weeks;4. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," $4.8 million, $181 million, six weeks; 5. "Let's Be Cops," $4.3 million, $73 million, five weeks; 6. "The Drop," $4.2 million, opening; 7. "If I Stay," $4 million, $44.9 million, four weeks; 8. "The November Man," $2.8 million, $22.5 million, three weeks; 9. "The Giver," $2.6 million, $41.3 million, five weeks; 10. "The Hundred-Foot Journey," $2.5 million, $49.4 million, six weeks.Unreel, Sept. 19:"A Walk Among The Tombstones," R: Liam Neeson stars in the crime-thriller as a private detective investigating a murder."Hector And The Search For Happiness," R: Rosamund Pike, Simon Pegg, Stellan Skarsgard and Toni Collette star in the comedy about a psychiatrist's global search for the secret of happiness."The Maze Runner," PG-13: Memories are erased in the sci-fi thriller starring Dylan O'Brien, Will Poulter, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Kaya Scodelario."The Zero Theorem" R: Terry Gilliam directs Christoph Walz as a computer hacker in the sci-fi film."This Is Where I Leave You," R: Four grown siblings reunite when their father dies. Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Jane Fonda star in the comedy."Tracks," PG-13: Mia Wasikowska stars in the drama as a young woman who goes on a 1,700-mile trek across West Australia with four camels and a dog.Read Paul Willistein's movie reviews at the Lehigh Valley Press web site, thelehighvalley-press.com; the Times-News web site, tnonline.com; and hear them on "Lehigh Valley Art Salon," 6 - 6:30 p.m. Mondays, WDIY 88.1 FM, and wdiy.org, where they're archived. Email Paul Willistein:

pwillistein@tnonline.com. You can follow Paul Willistein on Twitter and friend Paul Willistein on facebook.Two Popcorn Boxesout of Five PopcornBoxes