Film

The Rite

Rebecca Sear | Friday 25 February, 2011 14:18

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue
Dir: Mikael Håfström

If there was an Oscar for most misleading film trailer, then my money would be on The Rite. Of course that’s an absurd award category, and I don’t have any money. But you get the idea. What the trailer promises the viewer is a supernatural horror film possessed by the spirit of Hannibal Lecter, which tantalises our obsession with the macabre. What we’re given is something quite different.

In The Rite we see newcomer to the silver screen, Colin O’Donoghue (who recorded his audition tape in a friend’s garden and was subsequently flown to LA to audition with Hopkins) play doubtful priest in training Michael Kovak. Having ‘fell’ into seminary school, the way-too-hot-for-a-life-of-celibacy student finds himself questioning his faith and future in a life of servitude. Seeing promise in him, Father Matthew (Toby Jones) persuades him to spend two months studying on an Exorcism course in the Vatican. However, his refusal to accept anything other than a scientific explanation for apparent demonic possessions leads his quest for truth into uncharted territory, as he meets wayward Jesuit priest and backstreet exorcist Father Lucas (Hopkins). What Michael experiences leaves him unable to trust his experiential knowledge of the world, meaning that his last defence against forces of darkness is his own faith.

What the writers have done with a story inspired by ‘true’ events is notable. It would have been easy to go for an unreserved CGI gore-fest in place of an actual storyline, but what they have achieved instead is a story which is sensitive to religious beliefs, and asks: what if there is an element of truth in demonic possessions? If one can overlook sometimes slightly stilted script, which is perhaps the result of using such an inexperienced lead, then one experiences a universally challenging concept for a film regardless of faith.

Inevitably, it is Hopkins’ performance which glues the sometimes foreseeable story together. Every time one begins to question whether or not they would really let this joker into theology school, or why there needs to be a sexy journalist role in a film where all the main characters are celibate, Hopkins somehow papers over the cracks. The making of this film comes in the scene where Father Lucas is gripped by an evil spirit (I haven’t spoilt the ending, you knew it would happen) and our hesitant exorcist-in-training must decide what to do. Hopkins’ performance in this scene proclaims his talents for inspiring unabridged dread in even the most enduring viewer, and at times his performance is really quite uncomfortable to watch. However, here is a role which cannot have been a huge challenge for Hopkins, and one can’t ignore the fact that he hasn’t been in any hugely successful roles since The Silence of the Lambs.

This film was always going to be a difficult one to sell to audiences. With the enormous success of films such as The Exorcism of Emily Rose in recent years and the genre-defining The Exorcist, its hard to say where The Rite stands. Whilst it’s marketed as a horror film, fans of this genre would be sorely disappointed with the lack of terror. There are a few jumpy scenes, but the overall message is one of the power of human faith over evil. Which leaves one wondering, who exactly would enjoy this film? Theology students?

---