The Confession (TV series)

Last updated
The Confession
Confession 2011 series logo.jpg
Promotional Poster
GenreDrama
Thriller
Created by Kiefer Sutherland
Written byBrad Mirman
Directed byBrad Mirman
Starring
Composer Sean Callery
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10
Production
Executive producers
  • Chris Young
  • Joseph Gomes
  • Chip Russo
  • Kiefer Sutherland
  • Maura Mandt
Production locationNew York
Running time5–7 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Hulu
ReleaseMarch 28 (2011-03-28) 
May 2, 2011 (2011-05-02)

The Confession is a 10-part web series created by Kiefer Sutherland, written and directed by Brad Mirman, and starring Sutherland and John Hurt. It premiered on Hulu on March 28, 2011. Each episode (or "chapter") is between five and seven minutes long. It co-stars Daniel London, Max Casella, and Michael Badalucco.

Contents

Plot

The plot revolves around a hitman (Sutherland – known simply as "The Confessor") and a priest (Hurt) discussing good and evil in a confessional on a snowy night. The confessor tells the priest that he has killed many people, and he is not sorry for it, because they deserved to die. He also states that he will kill tonight, unless the priest hears his confession. At first the priest refuses to be involved in the confessor's game, but after the confessor threatens the lives of the priest's congregation, he agrees to hear him out.

Throughout the confession, we are shown flashbacks of the confessor's killings, and times when he has been compassionate, letting his target live, or take their own life rather than being executed. In between the flashbacks, the confessor and the priest argue over whether people deserve to die, the existence of God, and whether the priest has ever sinned as badly as the confessor. The priest continually tries to get the confessor to admit that what he does is wrong, but the confessor is not looking for forgiveness.

After several flashbacks and arguments, the confessor forces the priest to reveal his worst sin. The priest confesses that he was once married, with a young son. He was an alcoholic, and the more he drank, the angrier he became, and directed his anger at his family. He would abuse his wife and son, which eventually led to his wife's suicide. After an argument, she jumped off of their balcony, rather than face a lifetime of abuse. The priest also confessed to burning his son's hand after the son broke his bottle of whiskey.

The confessor then shows his own hand to the priest, revealing a scar which he says he received from his father when he forced him to put his hand on the stove when he was eight years old. The confessor says he was left by his father for three days in the apartment alone, before the landlord discovered him. He spent the next ten years in orphanages and foster homes, enduring molestation and physical abuse at the hands of his various foster parents.

The confessor reveals that he intends to kill the priest (his father) tonight. He explains that he saw him just a few days prior but couldn't be sure it was indeed his father, as he did not know he had become a priest. Once he looked into his eyes for a brief moment, he was sure of the priest's identity. The priest begs the confessor for forgiveness, and later his own life. The confessor takes aim and fires a single gunshot at the priest, but misses intentionally. He holds to his original agreement: that if the priest agreed to hear his confession, he would not kill tonight. The confessor tells the priest that he will not kill him, nor forgive him for what he did to him and his mother. He tells the priest that he will continue to kill, and will send him newspaper clippings of each killing, so the priest knows that his actions made the confessor the way he is, and he is responsible for their deaths. [1] [2]

Cast

Reception

According to The New York Times , the show is "crisp and attractive. The short nature of the episodes makes it easy for viewers to consume under time constrained environments. However, the overall effect of the show feels less like the beginning of something new but rather the end". [3]

Episodes

  1. "Chapter 1" — aired March 28, 2011
  2. "Chapter 2" — aired March 28, 2011
  3. "Chapter 3" — aired March 28, 2011
  4. "Chapter 4" — aired April 5, 2011
  5. "Chapter 5" — aired April 5, 2011
  6. "Chapter 6" — aired April 11, 2011
  7. "Chapter 7" — aired April 18, 2011
  8. "Chapter 8" — aired April 25, 2011
  9. "Chapter 9" — aired May 2, 2011
  10. "Chapter 10" — aired May 2, 2011

DVD release

The Confession was released on DVD on January 24, 2012. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confession (religion)</span> Acknowledgment of ones sins

Confession, in many religions, is the acknowledgment of sinful thoughts and actions. This may occur directly to a deity or to fellow people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penance</span> Repentance of sins

Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of repentance for sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. It also plays a part in confession among Anglicans and Methodists, in which it is a rite, as well as among other Protestants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiefer Sutherland</span> Canadian actor (born 1966)

Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland is a Canadian actor and musician. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series 24, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John of Nepomuk</span> Czech priest and saint (d. 1393)

John of Nepomuk was a saint of Bohemia who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confessional</span> Small, enclosed booth used for confession

A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Catholic churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation. In the Catholic Church, confessions are only to be heard in a confessional or oratory, except for a just reason.

<i>I Confess</i> (film) 1953 film by Alfred Hitchcock

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absolution</span> Traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced by Penance

Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the practice of absolution vary between Christian denominations.

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In the Catholic Church, the Seal of Confession is the absolute duty of priests or anyone who happens to hear a confession not to disclose anything that they learn from penitents during the course of the Sacrament of Penance (confession). Even where the seal of confession does not strictly apply – where there is no specific serious sin confessed for the purpose of receiving absolution – priests have a serious obligation not to cause scandal by the way they speak.

The clergy–penitent privilege, clergy privilege, confessional privilege, priest–penitent privilege, pastor–penitent privilege, clergyman–communicant privilege, or ecclesiastical privilege, is a rule of evidence that forbids judicial inquiry into certain communications between clergy and members of their congregation. This rule recognises certain communication as privileged and not subject to otherwise obligatory disclosure, similar to attorney–client privilege between lawyers and clients. In many jurisdictions certain communications between a member of the clergy of some or all religious faiths and a person consulting them in confidence are privileged in law. In particular, Catholics, Lutherans and Anglicans, among adherents of other Christian denominations, confess their sins to priests, who are unconditionally forbidden by Church canon law from making any disclosure, a position supported by the law of many countries, although in conflict with civil (secular) law in some jurisdictions. It is a distinct concept from that of confidentiality.

<i>The Rosary Murders</i> 1987 American mystery film

The Rosary Murders is a 1987 American mystery crime film directed by Fred Walton, and starring Donald Sutherland, Charles Durning, Belinda Bauer, and Josef Sommer. The plot follows a series of gruesome murders occurring within a Detroit Roman Catholic parish. It is based upon the 1979 novel of the same name by William X. Kienzle. Kienzle received screenplay credit, as did Elmore Leonard.

The Sacrament of Penance is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, in which the faithful are absolved from sins committed after baptism and reconciled with the Christian community. During reconciliation, mortal sins must be confessed and venial sins may be confessed for devotional reasons. According to the dogma and unchanging practice of the church, only those ordained as priests may grant absolution.

The Seal of the Confessional is a principle within Anglicanism which protects the words spoken during confession. Confession has certain censures on disclosure as there is an understanding among the clergy that there is an inviolable confidence between the individual priest and the penitent. This principle should not be confused with the rarer practice of lay confession, nor with the public confession of sins which is an element of most eucharistic liturgies throughout the Anglican Communion. The "Seal of the Confessional" refers specifically to the private confession of sins by an individual, in the presence of a priest, the form of which is regulated by the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and later liturgical sources.

The doctrine of priest–penitent privilege does not apply in the UK. Before the Reformation, England was a Roman Catholic country and the Seal of the Confessional had great authority in the English courts. However, the Reformation was followed by a period of, often fierce, persecution of Catholics.

A confession is an acknowledgement of fact by one who would have otherwise preferred to keep that fact hidden.

Lay confession is confession in the religious sense, made to a lay person.

<i>Absolution</i> (1978 film) 1978 film by Anthony Page

Absolution is a 1978 British thriller film directed by Anthony Page and written by playwright Anthony Shaffer. The film stars Richard Burton as a priest who teaches at a boys' school and finds one of his favourite students is playing a nasty practical joke on him. He sets out to investigate the prank and stumbles upon a dead body, leading to his life spiralling out of control. The film also stars Dai Bradley, Dominic Guard and the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, in his debut film role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confession (Lutheran Church)</span>

In the Lutheran Church, Confession is the method given by Christ to the Church by which individual men and women may receive the forgiveness of sins; according to the Large Catechism, the "third sacrament" of Holy Absolution is properly viewed as an extension of Holy Baptism. Unlike Roman Catholicism, the practice of private confession in the Lutheran Church is voluntary, not obligatory.

<i>Calvary</i> (2014 film) 2014 Irish film by John Michael McDonagh

Calvary is a 2014 Irish drama film written and directed by John Michael McDonagh. It stars Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, Domhnall Gleeson, M. Emmet Walsh and Isaach de Bankolé. The film began production in September 2012 and was released in April 2014 in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, in July in Australia and in August 2014 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confession</span> Statement made by a person/persons acknowledging something that they had preferred to keep hidden

A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of people – acknowledging some personal fact that the person would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that he believes the other party is not already aware of, and is frequently associated with an admission of a moral or legal wrong:

In one sense it is the acknowledgment of having done something wrong, whether on purpose or not. Thus confessional texts usually provide information of a private nature previously unavailable. What a sinner tells a priest in the confessional, the documents criminals sign acknowledging what they have done, an autobiography in which the author acknowledges mistakes, and so on, are all examples of confessional texts.

References

  1. Hale, Mike (March 27, 2011). "In the Confessional Booth With Plenty to Confess". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  2. Browne, Niall (January 15, 2011). "Kiefer Sutherland Talks Web Drama 'The Confession'; '24' Movie Updates". Screen Rant. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  3. Hale, Mike (March 27, 2011). "In the Confessional Booth With Plenty to Confess". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
  4. Woodward, Tom (December 1, 2011). "The Confession (US – DVD R1)". DVDActive. Retrieved December 11, 2011.