The Retreat

Logline
Six misbehaved Catholic priests are sent to an isolated Retreat to undergo a revolutionary method of spiritual healing.

Synopsis
Father Martin Herrera (late 30s, Mexican) has sinned, and not for the first time. His atonement is an indefinite stay at North Canaan Ecclesiastical Retreat – a three story compound in the middle of nowhere.
Martin has spent his entire life running from one abusive authority figure to the next, and is therefore slightly surprised to find himself under the thumb of the Retreat’s exceedingly polite director, Monsignor Leo Hess (40s), a man who claims to value free will over all else.
The last to arrive, Martin is soon introduced to his five fellow retreatants: Father Rowan (40s, Australian), Father Sean (30s, Irish), Father Adam (20s, a Rhode Islander), Father David (30s, Oklahoman) and Father Bob (40s, a Chicagoan). The sins that landed each priest in this place are not to be discussed. The house rules are “no phones, no computers, no pasts”. Only the future concerns Leo Hess. Only forgiveness.
To assist Leo in his “good work” are Father Pierre (50s, French), who is observing a vow of silence, and Sister María (30s, Spanish), who speaks no English. Together, they will break the six sinful priests on the wheel of salvation. They will starve them, tire them, tempt them, and shame them, forcing each man to choose between deliverance and damnation.
Like frogs in slowly boiling water, the six priests are unable to recognize the rising tide of physical and psychological violence for what it is, until it’s too late. Bound by vows of obedience and silenced by their own shame, each priest will inevitably come to terms with his haunted past and torturous present, waking up to the fact that no matter whether they choose forgiveness or scorn, heaven or hellfire, no one leaves this Retreat alive.