Still: courtesy of Netflix
Procession is the tender but traumatic story of six Midwestern men, all survivors of childhood sexual assault at the hands of Catholic priests and clergy, who come together to create a drama therapy-inspired experiment designed to collectively work through their traumas.
Their radical experiment in therapeutic collaborative filmmaking is recorded compassionately by Sundance award-winning filmmaker Robert Greene, who follows their harrowing yet supportive journey into a dark and disturbing past.
This Netflix film makes for grimly compulsive viewing, though while the six men have to deal with the awful memories of their abusers it is the wonderful support that they show each other that ultimately enables them to take positive steps as they gather in Kansas City, Missouri – where much of the abuse happened – to make their emotional stand.
Joe Eldred, Mike Foreman, Ed Gavagan, Dan Laurine, Michael Sandridge and Tom Viviano, the six men who were abused by Catholic priests, band together with a documentary crew and a team of therapists to try something new to address their trauma. With guidance from drama therapist Monica Phinney and constant support from lawyer and advocate Rebecca Randles, who is the key reason the men have come together, they talk, bond and set about co-creating staged scenes that unveil the power of, and abuse rife within, the church.
Each man carries his horrors deep inside, but each story is different and each protagonist deals with the traumas of his past in different ways. Dan finds himself moving from locations manager and supporter to someone who needs to conquer his own demons; Michael must face the fact that the locale of his abuse has been torn down; Joe is trying to get rid of the terrifying dreams that have haunted him for years, while Mike is trying to focus his anger on something creative and productive.
Tom, who was abused by multiple priests but can’t address his own story because of the legal complexities of his case, decides to act in scenes – bravely playing an abusive priest – and to lend support however he can, while Ed is also fighting for justice in a pending criminal case against his abuser.
In a powerful twist, they recruit the astonishingly grown-up and compassionate young actor Terrick Trobough – with the agreement and support of his parents – to represent them as a young boy across all of the scenes they improvise. Some of the men still have faith, so some scenes are about the rituals and symbols that were used to force them into silence and to guarantee impunity, “so the Catholics can understand what they’ve gone through.”
They come together to re-enact a baptism (with Mike walking away as anger takes over) and a Catholic Review Board, and while never confrontational to Church members during their filming they do visit places that haunt their memories, with Dan especially finding the process harrowing but ultimately cathartic.
Each man is on a different journey to confront his past and to find a way to heal or at least find a way to deal with the trauma. What gives the film its immense heart is seeing the men bond in their collective grief and share their intense support structure as they go about the drama therapy-inspired experiment. They emerge still angry, but so much stronger and ultimately aided by the filmmaking journey they undertake together.
US, 2021, 118mins
Dir/Editor Robert Greene
Production Concordia, 4th Row Films, Impact Partners
Producers Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliott, Douglas Tirola
Cinematography Robert Kolodny
Music Keegan DeWitt
With Joe Eldred, Mike Foreman, Ed Gavagan, Dan Laurine, Michael Sandridge, Tom Viviano, Terrick Trobough, Rebecca Randles, Monica Phinney, Sasha Black
