THE RITE
3 out of 5 stars

i decided to try a reli-horror for a change, and actually this one proved to be quite good! i think it’s because anthony hopkins is such a GREAT actor, and he most certainly plays a retired priest quite well... ;)

so, as you can tell from the title, the rite is about the vatican’s exorcism school. well, sorta... it starts off with a guy named michael kovak, who is the son of a mortician, and he’s been helping his father prepare dead bodies for funerals his whole life. he wants a change in his life, so he decides to go to seminary school, since the church is willing to pay for his college education... he fails theology, and the father superior wonders why that is the case. michael states that he’s lost his faith, so the father superior suggests that he take a course on exorcism at the vatican. michael travels to rome, where he is asked to help out father lucas with his exorcisms because his unorthodox methods might change michael’s mind about christianity and his faith in god. so, father lucas’s first client/patient arrives at his home, and it’s a pregnant sixteen year old girl. it’s hard to believe that there’s a demon living inside of this girl, but wait until you see “it” come out... ;)

it’s hard to believe in such a thing like demonic possession, but you wonder if it truly exists... i mean, if there’s a god there surely is a devil, right? what’s interesting is that this was a true story, and father lucas is a real person, performing real exorcisms in italy! (apparently there are lot of europeans that get possessed? i wonder why... :P) the final scene with demonic father lucas and michael is very climatic and well-acted esp. that anthony hopkins (such a versatile actor!), and i think what i liked about this movie the most is that michael had a complicated past that you had to piece together with lil’ flashbacks here and there. the devil/demon really honed in on his lil’ weird family, but despite all that, good ALWAYS triumphs over evil, and that, my spiritual friends, is why belief in a higher being always comes in handy... ;)

p.s. this movie isn't scary at all...  in fact, i think the poster is creepier than the actual movie. :P