The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002 film)

The Crime of Padre Amaro (Spanish: El crimen del padre Amaro, known by its literal translation The Crime of Father Amaro in Australia) is a 2002 Mexican-Spanish drama film directed by Carlos Carrera. It is very loosely based on the novel O Crime do Padre Amaro (1875) by 19th-century Portuguese writer José Maria de Eça de Queiroz. The film starred Gael García Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancón and Sancho Gracia. It premiered on 16 August 2002 in Mexico City.

When it was released, The Crime of Padre Amaro caused a controversy on the part of Roman Catholic groups in Mexico who tried to stop the film from being screened. They failed, and the film became the biggest box office draw ever in the country, beating previous record holder, Sexo, pudor y lágrimas (1999), with a gross of $16.3 million.

In the United States of America, this film also enjoyed commercial success; Columbia-TriStar Home Entertainment paid less than $1 million to acquire the film's North American distribution rights and released the film theatrically through Samuel Goldwyn Films; the film went on to gross $5.7 million in limited theatrical release in the United States and Canada.

At the 75th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.