Dan Tarrant — a fervent, faith-filled Catholic — spent nine months filming on the streets of Kensington, a notorious neighborhood known for its large, open-air drug market.
“I’m a disciple with a camera,” he said. “God is the filmmaker.”
Mercy at the Gates is Tarrant’s 2025 documentary that follows Nick, a 29-year-old homeless drug addict, on his journey from addiction to mercy.
“There are so many Nicks out there, and they all have a name,” said Dianne Hoffman, executive director of Mother of Mercy House in Kensington. “Nick is just representing our outdoor neighbors.”
Founded in 2015 on East Allegheny Avenue, the ministry provides food, clothing, shelter, recovery services, and other programs to people — including families and children — living in one of Philadelphia’s roughest neighborhoods.
The Catholic nonprofit is staffed by four full-time and two part-time employees and supported by dedicated volunteers.
“Everyone of us has a strong passion for what we do,” Hoffman said. “Dan came down to do the film, and just like us, he fell in love with the community.”
Kensington, located in the River Wards section of North Philadelphia, has attracted significant local, national, and international media attention for its open drug use, violent crime, and homelessness.
“A lot of people go to Kensington with a camera,” Tarrant said. “God instructed me to film hearts, not body parts, and that’s what I did.”
From Website Video to Documentary Film
Dianne Hoffman (back left), executive director of Mother of Mercy House, and staff members engage with a client at the Kensington ministry, which serves people experiencing homelessness and addiction in North Philadelphia. (Dan Tarrant/Personally Catholic)
Tarrant was originally asked to produce a short video for the Mother of Mercy House website. He quickly realized a much larger story was waiting to be shared. The finished project features real people in their own words — no actors, no scripts — and tells Nick’s story with unflinching honesty.
“Every time I watch it, I think it’s heartbreaking,” Hoffman said.
The film’s title was inspired by the Gospel of Matthew (16:18) which promises the gates of hell will not prevail over the church of Jesus.
“When you’re on Allegheny Avenue, it’s like walking into hell,” Tarrant said. “When you walk into Mother of Mercy, it’s like heaven. People are loved indiscriminately and unconditionally.”
Mercy at the Gates has been selected for at least eight film festivals across the country. It premiered in October 2025 at a sold-out Newtown Theater with many attendees from Tarrant’s home parish, St. Andrew in Newtown. The documentary was recently screened for administrative staff at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
On Tuesday, April 7, he showed it to an audience at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
Tarrant, a former high school theology teacher, hopes it will appeal to more high school and college audiences.
“I would like young people to know they can be loved by God personally,” he said. “This film shows that.”
‘Churches and Cheesesteaks’
Mary Torpey, a service coordinator at Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville, N.J., brought 18 students from her honors religion class in late February to North Philadelphia for a day of service dubbed “Churches and Cheesesteaks.”
At one point, Tarrant guided them from Mother of Mercy House through the neighborhood — past used needles scattered across the sidewalks — and back to their bus.
“A couple of the kids were afraid. I know there were times when I was nervous for them,” Torpey recalled. “To see Dan be so confident in the work that he does and his faith — it was unbelievable.”
That weekend, Torpey watched Mercy at the Gates before showing it to roughly 150 students, teachers, and staff. She described it as graphic, shocking, and incredibly moving. So much more than an “anti-drug movie.”
“It does a really beautiful job of highlighting the work of Mother of Mercy House,” she said. “It’s not to fix anyone. The emphasis is on love.”
Dan Tarrant
A Call to Action for Parishes and Schools
The documentary is available, free of charge, to churches, high schools, colleges, and universities. Tarrant encourages parishes and schools to host screenings followed by Q&A with filmmakers and Mother of Mercy House staff.
The theatrical cut is about 45 minutes; the director’s cut is just over an hour. Screening requests can be made at Host the Movie! | Mercy at the Gates.
Hoffman believes the film accurately reflects the work of Mother of Mercy House. “But it doesn’t show all that we do,” she said.
She hopes viewers will be inspired to volunteer and to donate, as the ministry is exclusively funded through grants and donations.
“The truth is, to run good programs, you need money,” she said almost apologetically. “If you don’t have money, you can’t help people in the way they need to be helped.”
Hoffman also hopes the film changes how people think about the people of Kensington. “They’re not bad, they’re not dangerous,” she said. “People are very, very sick down there. I look out, and I see sadness.”
Mercy at the Gates was financed by private donors and produced by Personally Catholic, a nonprofit founded by Tarrant to lead Catholics to a more personal relationship with God through speaking, serving, photography, and film.
“I’m profoundly called to tell the stories of the poorest of the poor, the most broken of the broken,” Tarrant said. “This film demonstrates that if people in (Nick’s) situation can be loved by God, anybody can be loved. That’s the core message of every movie I make.”
Share this story