The Rite (2011)

Whew! We had encountered post exhibit stress while completing our egress that I wanted to unwind with a good movie. Unfortunately, Black Swan wouldn't be showing until the 25th. I decided to settle on The Rite, starring Anthony Hopkins, instead.

I don't usually watch horror movies, because I'm easily scared, but I was so sleepy I thought that if things got unbearable, I would just sleep through all of it. Well...I wouldn't exactly call it a horror movie because it didn't feel like one. While slow-paced -- enough to  induce sleep (felt my eyes closing sometimes) -- it actually gave interesting insights on exorcisms and the questions that arise regarding demonic possessions.

Even though I've seen similar flicks -- Stigmata and The Order come to mind -- I like that they didn't romanticize the film and went straight ahead with issues of faith and many other internal battles. Anthony Hopkins and Colin O'Donoghue, playing Father Lucas and soon-to-be-priest Michael Kovak respectively, delivered powerful performances without going over the top. That helped get the message across.

The Rite is based on The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, a book written by Matt Baglio. The author penned the manuscript based on exorcism seminars he attended at the Vatican. Despite the movie's flaws, I believe in its merits, since it made me curious about the book and exorcism in general.

Oh yeah, I didn't realize that there were cuts until I saw the trailer in YouTube. I did notice the little skips, though I thought that they were intentional.

Full Trailer:

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