The Rite Review

This Review is Inspired by True Events (1.5 out of 5 Stars)

A Film Review by Matt Brigner

The Players: Colin O'Donoghue, Anthony Hopkins, Rutger Hauer, Alice Braga, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones

What’s Going On: Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue) goes into seminary to escape his father. Not his Holy Father, but his crazy, related by blood father (Rutger Hauer). He doesn’t necessarily believe in God or the Devil, he just feels that lying about his faith for the rest of his life is a much better alternative to living with his creepy, undertaker dad. As he is about to graduate he has a change of heart and tells the Father Superior (Toby Jones) that he made a mistake and wishes to leave the seminary before he graduates. After finding out that his 100K scholarship will become a 100K loan he reluctantly accepts an offer to attend a school in Rome to become an exorcist. This is when he meets Father Lucas Trevant (Sir Anthony Hopkins) and things get interesting. Well, sort of. Not really. Okay this is when things stay boring.

How Is It: Every time I see a trailer for a new film about exorcism an internal struggle ensues. Part of me hopes that this will be this generation’s The Exorcist. The other part of me knows that this will not be the case. As these two sides duke it out more revelations about the film come into focus. TV Spots start saying things like “Inspired by True Events,” “Anthony Hopkin’s Best Performance Since Hannibal Lecter,” and the always popular “Best Horror Film of the Year!” My hopes soar sky high and then I see the PG-13 rating and they come crashing down. By the time I went to see it my hopes were in the basement and that is where they stayed for the duration of this very boring movie.

As For the Acting: Colin O’Donoghue falters in the lead. He isn’t very believable and doesn’t do the poor writing any favors. Anthony Hopkins does a decent job as Father Lucas but his reliable acting isn’t enough to salvage this boring and lifeless movie. Rutger Hauer excels as Istvan Kovak and provides the film’s creepiest moments. The rest of the cast fills out okay. They carry their weight and pass in and out of the story with little to no effect.

Did This Really Happen? Okay, so apparently this author named Matt Baglio wrote a book on an exorcist named Father Gary Thomas called The Making of the Modern Exorcist. Producers Tripp Vinson and Beau Flynn bought the movie rights to the book and alas we are left with The Rite. So to answer the “Did this really happen” question I would say this particular event did not happen. But since the film is “inspired” and not “based” on true events the producers thought it would be scary to let us know that exorcisms really happen in the world. Since most of us know that this ritual is practiced it doesn’t make this particular movie scary. As a matter of fact the scariest thing about The Rite is the PG-13 rating and the Justin Bieber trailer that preceded the film.  

What The Movie Is Most Like: The Rite is basically a watered down and boring version of The Exorcist. This is funny considering the movie takes a stab at the 38-year-old classic when Father Lucas grumbles, “What did you expect? Spinning Heads? Pea Soup?” If you really love this movie and have never seen The Exorcist, watch it right away. I think you will prefer the pea soup.

Better Movies To Watch About Demonic Possession: House of the Devil (2009), REC (2007), The Evil Dead (1981), and The Shining (1980).