Get Rid of The Devil Inside: "The Rite" Review

My day got off to a good start. I got up, met with a friend, went to get breakfast (which was surprisingly good), and went to the theater to watch a movie about exorcists. I'll be the first to admit how bizarre that last part sounds to those of you out of the loop about movies. As unusual as it seems, I'm normally not drawn to them either, despite liking horror movies. I guess what made The Rite look so interesting to me was the fact that it seems to capture something about exorcisms that not many movies (if any) have captured before: the risk the priest is put both spiritually and physically.

The Rite is about Michael Kovak, a young mortician who, to escape his father, goes to seminary with plan of dropping out before taking his final so he can get a free college education while tricking his father into thinking he's becoming a priest. This backfires when he finds out that the seminary would turn the funding into a massive student that he'd have to pay if he drops out. Instead, he gets sent to an exorcism school, where he constantly undercuts his teacher. In desperation to keep Michael in the faith, the teacher sends him to observe Father Lucus, an unorthodox Jesuit exorcist. What follows isn't so much a horror movie as it is a character study of Father Lucus and Michael while they struggle with exorcism of a young, pregnant woman, and then, the aftermath.

Most of the movie is filmed and acted very well. The framing and cuts feel appropriately at odds with the setting. Sir Anthony Hopkins, showing that he is a talented actor, gives a performance that is at first charming, then disturbing. Unfortunately, in the middle is a performance that seems comical as well, including an anatomical special effect that defies physics. Essentially, someone gets folded up, and looks flat. But, the worst culprit is Alice Braga, cast as a journalist, and is completely unaware that the movie isn't about her. I can count on one hand how many different expression she has that isn't smiling. Yes, I did that on purpose. I've seen her in three movies now, and in all of them, she was cast as a "young, attractive" character. Instead, she comes off as haggard and bland, yet it irks me more in this movie, mainly because her character's purpose in the end is pretty forced.

All of that doesn't hurt the overall movie's story, though. It's multilayered, and, dare I say, sympathetic. I went into this movie, as a Catholic, hoping to see a movie that would be just that. At the same time, I could see people of other religions, or atheists, enjoying this movie as a horror movie that doesn't rely on cheap scares. It's not visually stunning, but cerebrally interesting.

The Rite is a hard movie to classify. While it is horror, it's not the scary horror we're used to. It's dramatic, but not exactly a pure drama. What it is though, is a movie that's very good, but has some very bad elements in it. While a hard movie to classify, it isn't exactly a hard movie to suggest. Just imagine that Alice Braga isn't in it.

I give it 4.5 out of 6 Confessionals