The Devil's Playground is a 1976 semi-autobiographical film by Australian director Fred Schepisi. It tells the story of a boy growing up and going to school in a Catholic seminary. Its focus is on the trials of the flesh and the tensions that arise, for both priests and students, from the religious injunction to control one's sexuality.
The year is 1988, and psychiatrist Tom Allen is still recovering from the death of his wife and an ill-fated love affair with Alice. When a boy at the local Catholic school goes missing, questions are asked of many in the community. Two popular clergy members – Father Andrassi and Brother Warner – launch a desperate search to find the missing boy. But the church is also facing internal moral problems, and Tom is called in to counsel a number of the priests dealing with a range of personal issues. As Cardinal Neville prepares to retire, his time in the position is celebrated by state MP Margaret Wallace, but a battle has also begun for the top job in the Sydney archdiocese.