The Rite
| release date | January 28 2011 |
| studio | New Line Cinema |
| director | Mikael Hafstrom |
| writer | Matt Baglio, Michael Petroni |
| starring | Anthony Hopkins, Colin O'Donoghue, Alice Braga, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jone |
| rating | PG13 |
| tagline | The Making of a Modern Day Exorcist |
| site | theritemovie.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
6 Comments
While The Rite had nothing extraordinary about it, it had nothing fundamentally wrong with it, either. I’m sure many B-D readers are going to find it to either lacking enough blood, violence and action, or too steeped in religion and faith. However, if instead of trying to read too deep, you simply take the movie at face value, it’s actually quite entertaining.
It may not bring all that much new to the table, as some recent movies with similar themes have, but that doesn’t take away from the film. Anthony Hopkins gives one of his better performances of late, and about the only problem the movie had was under-utilizing Ciaran Hinds and Toby Jones.
If you’re looking for another “The Exorcist” or even “The Last Exorcism”, this movie is certainly not them, but it’s enoyable in its own rite. (ha ha, I made a pun
)
Every review of The Rite starts by comparing it to and tearing it down from The Exorcist. That movie is a once-in-a-lifetime horror experience that will never be duplicated. That said, why BD didn’t review the actual merits of the movie is beyond me (by the way it was a lowly mule not a horse – Mr. D didn’t pay attention). It is a slow burner, an exploration of faith, and focused on the “making of an exorcist” rather than the exorcism itself. Its heady and adult conversations will not please most horror fans addicted to gore and senseless non-stop video game action – although the off-key ending definitely panders to the popcorn crowd. It is beautifully shot, the cast is great, and the evolution of the plot is straight forward and reasonable (a rarity in horror). I found its mostly realistic approach to possession unnerving and the overall film while not a triumphant success was not an epic failure. This is definitely a growing niche for horror films – religious melodrama for adults.
the problem with movie goers today is that they have been desensitized. simplicity sometimes can be most impactfull, and seriously do you reeeeeally expect a head to turn during a real life exorcism?
the rite loosely follows the real life father Thomas’ journey into becoming an exorcist… real life isnt as exciting as hollywood.
I think that even though THE RITE does sensationalize the story a bit and takescertain artistic licenses, clearly to please the masses, it held true to the account that was told in the book by the journalist Matt Baglio.
My one critique about the film was that there should have been more about his journey as a “skeptical student” in Rome to set up the premise a little better other than that it was a tasteful thriller with awesome subtle special effects that did what they were supposed to do, Anthony Hopkins was flawless as usual, Colin O’Donoghue gave an impressive performance and the movie keeps you in anticipation the whole time. its a good watch. 7.5 stars from me
I would like to start off by saying that this movie is not the Exorcist and doesnt pretend to be, So if that is what your looking for you are barking up the wrong tree.The film is simply a look at faith and speaks volumes to the state of religion today.The acting was great and the biggest pitfall was under characterization Kovak. Definately an adult film it challenges you to think about what you believe,a great slow burn of a film.
Sidenote: Why was this film so poorly reviewed by BD? Yet they give films like Paranormal Activity 2 a nearly perfect review?
I’m a little surprised at some of the negative reviews the film has been getting until I read one in the U of C Riverside Highlander. It seems the reviewer was upset because he thought the film took every occasion to “off-handedly bash atheists.” Not fair, I understand, as most films take every opportunity to bash the Church. This is a film that breaks the mold.
One of the apparent victims of demonic possession we get to observe, is a young woman in the later stages of pregnancy, and the reviewer wanted to know why the girl hadn’t been offered an abortion, since the incident might have been the result of incest. He seemed to think this would have been good common sense. I’m beginning to see why he didn’t like a film that takes seriously the subjects of sin and spiritual warfare.
Our young seminarian is asked to visit and observe a practicing exorcist, Fr. Lucas (the Anthony Hopkins character), who zeroes in immediately on the young student’s apparent lack of belief in personal evil. The older priest has suffered numerous assaults on his faith through the years, sometimes succumbing to doubt, but he makes the relevant observation, “one doesn’t have to believe in the devil to be harmed by him.”
While some object to the slow pacing of the film, I thought it was necessary to allow the young man’s crisis a logical development. Very well acted all around, and you’ll recognize some faces besides the always dependable Mr. Hopkins: Rutger Hauer, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, the exotic Alice Braga, and you’ll like newcomer Colin Donoghue who brings a nice solemn touch to the central character. I’ll say good words too about the remarkable photography, the evocative settings in the Vatican, as well as in the backstreets of Rome, and the sound held a special interest to me. It was essential to creating the mood of ominous psychic (or spiritual) disturbance that will keep you, the viewer, in a constant state of unease.
Not really a spoiler, but when you see the red-eyed mule, you will know that we have ventured into deep and troubling waters. Recommended for those who have an interest in the subject matter, or who might enjoy a well-told thriller, but I will recognize that it is not for everyone.
good movie
possession scenes are credible
i enjoy this movie
I found that movie truly average.
It has a nice cinematography and some great actors. But after that? The thematic of faith vs atheism? We saw it in The Last Exorcism a few months ago and it was truly better.
No, that movie is not having anything to get you stick at the screen after the first 45 minutes. You see everything that’s coming…
And the end truly sucks lol.
I had really high hopes for this movie. I was anticipating seeing it right from the moment the teaser trailer hit the web. Upon seeing the film i was extremely disappointed. The list of problems with this movie goes on for days. Although Anthony Hopkins’ performance was well done it was not enough to save the film. The possession scenes only took up about 10 minutes of the movie which was a huge disappointment considering that was the whole premise of the film. The movie was actually more funny then it was scary. I would definitely save this one for dvd. It’s nothing special at all.
Loved it! Don’t understand all the hate. Anthony Hopkins was amazing. The film had a great pace and truly scared me especially when Hopkins became possessed. I kept seeing Hannibal in him but more evil even. I just loved it. A fun exorcism film.
If Anthony Hopkins wasn’t in this, this might have been a flop. The storyline had some good ideas, but it wasn’t as stable as it could have been. It was a little predictable and the mood of the film was never really scary. This film is certainly worth a watch, but not particularly more than once or twice.
I have to admit that “The Rite” was the first film I was excited about for 2011 and after seeing no less than 47-theatrically released films in 2010, I had to get started.
Unfortunately, “The Rite” isn’t the best and I went in with too high hopes. The first half of the film is definitely better than the second, as we at least have some attempts at a creepy, disturbing sense of unease.
However, the second half of the film degenerates into a sort of visual effects mess which doesn’t really work as, well, anything. Its not particularly enjoyable and its certainly not scary.
In fact, most of the film is not scary or thrilling or exciting which is a shame as director Mikael Hafstrom (“1408″) seems like he should be better than this but he comes off as awfully lazy here, and seems to be thinking that the mere story and elements of the film make it scary and that he doesn’t really have to do any work. As a result, the film is not particularly scary or unnerving at all though thankfully it only has one cheap, jump scare.
The acting isn’t bad. A lot of critics have attacked newcomer Colin O’Donaghue as the young, doubting priest but I personally had no problems with it.
I also liked Anthony Hopkins who seems to be having a lot of fun here and throws himself into the role quite fully and at least, this time around, I could tell where he was coming from. In his role in last years remake of “The Wolfman”, I had a hard time getting a handle on his character, to the extent that I wondered if HE was even able to get a handle on his character.
Another element I didn’t like is that way the film was slightly mis-marketed. If you took the trailers and tv spots as they are, you wold think its sort of a mystery as to whether or not Hopkin’s character is possessed or not but in the film, its not really a mystery at all and I think that would have been a much stronger way to play it.
At the end of the day, while the film isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen, its far too bland and its lack of thrills make it quite forgettable. Unfortunately, “The Rite” gets far too much wrong.
Well, after hearing the negative reception, i didnt want to see this movie but I ended up seeing it anyway at the urging of some friends. With low expectations, i suppose it was just what I thought it would be… just meh… Really, most of it is rather drab, stale, dull, and honestly not scary at all. I think that the BD review has got it pretty much “nailed” (pun intended). Anthony Hopkins was the best part of this movie, his performance was great, and I thought the ending of the movie was the best part of the whole thing, as it was the most entertaining scene of all.
HE RITE: Despite much undeserved negative attention I finally got around to seeing the Anthony Hopkins exorcism thriller and was pleasantly surprised.I really had no real interest in seeing the film. At my old age of 31 and being a movie buff I’ve seen countless exorcism films some more successful(exorcism of emily rose, exorcist) than others (Exorcist 2) but most of them fall squarely in the middle (Exorcist 3, last exorcism, Stigmata) and thats just where The Rite lands. Which is actually surprising considering the lame recent spate of horror films or just movies in general actually. Couple that with some generic trailers and Tv spots and the presence of cursed Director Mikael Halstrom of the drab 1408 and hopeless Derailed and it just wasn’t one of my priorities. Some might even say but wait this must be good Anthony Hopkins is in it but after the Cuba Gooding Jr. starring Instinct I totally lost faith in him. So I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised The Rite doesn’t bring anything new to the table in the exorcism arena and nothing especially scary either. But the film is creepy and plays as a rather well constructed character based thriller with some really solid turns from Donaghue and a splendid one from Hopkins his best since the original Silence of the Lambs. The film does make the material feel fresh if a little forced and I felt myself intrigued by the actual classes and process in becoming an exorcist displayed in the film. Donaghue stars as a young priest with little faith who is persuaded by his mentor to attend exorcism classes after a tragic accident. While in room he questions his faith even more until he’s led to a practicing exorcist played by Hopkins whose treating a young pregnant girl whose possessed. both sides of the argument are explored maybe not as throughly as I would have liked but what stands is an entertaining and intriguing spectacle of releigious horror that feels somewhat compelling and believable mostly because of the above par performances that stay with you. Also Donaghue is a real find he’s completely gorgeous and throws himself into the role of the young priest he’s a new face I will definately have my eye out for and so should you.
The movie is not the best in the world but it’s okay. It was not excellent it does not deserve an oscar, But it was just good. Anthony Hopkins was like the only actor I new in this movie and he was the only good one. The main guy in the movie was dull and he reminded me of Nicholas Cage. And the main guy only been in like 4 movies no wonder…
ok the film was not bad.it was a quite good copy of the exorcist.but on the other hand if anthony hopkins did not participated in this it wouldnt get any attention at all..and believe it doesnt deserves much…but greastest oblection is that the film is like a propaganda of the catholic church against all those who dont believe in “god”…especially the ending is total blackmailing of the audience’s religious emotions…and thats the most annoying thing about this one…p.s. donoghue reminded me of nicholas cage too..and thats not something nice…
It’s a decent movie, and I agree with those who say that if it were not for Anthony Hpkins this movie would have a much lower rating.
The film itself does not incorporate anything original to gender, contrary seems to repeat some formulas, but never achieve a strong effect on the viewer, ie there are best exorcism movies.
Anyway Anthony Hopkins transforms this normal movie into something a little more interesting to watch.
“What an excellent day for an exorcism.”
Those lines have haunted my dreams for years. The words were those spoken by 12 year old Regan MacNeil in William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, the movie that set the bar for demonic possession and exorcisms. The idea of a demonic force taking a person against their will only to be driven out by a “man of the cross” has fascinated me since I was a kid. Fascinated and terrified. Every single time a movie that covers the topic of exorcism is released, I get excited. Excited and then hugely disappointed. The issue being since The Exorcist, no movie dealing in the theme of expelling demons has been able to compare in quality story telling, plot, acting, etc.
My movie going friends and I had given up on waiting for a decent exorcism flick after The Last Exorcism. We walked out of the theater feeling completely ripped off; having just watched 87 minutes of a shaky ‘documentary’ crew following a con-artist claiming to be an exorcist.
Unfortunately, we need to get used to idea that no film on the subject will ever compare to the original, and yet we are doomed to consistently use it for the basis of our comparisons.
And having lost all hope for the exorcist themed films, I threw up my arms in dramatic exasperation until I heard that Anthony Hopkins, was going to star in a movie called “The Rite”.
Based on the “true story” of an American priest in training being trained in Rome by an experienced Exorcist, The Rite, was to be released in January 2011. I screamed like a 10 year old girl front row at a Justin Beiber concert. Hopkins, best known for his role as “Hannibal ‘the Cannibal’ Lecter” was the answer to my dark little prayers. If anyone could breathe life back into this sub-genre it’d be Sir Anthony.
My biggest problem was trying to find someone to hit the movie theater with me, which I never could find someone to brave another horrific disappointment, so I waited. Fast forward to today. I sat here waiting like a kid on Christmas Eve for the download bar to finally hit 100%.
Let me tell you, horror fans, The Rite did not disappoint. The story although a little slow off the hop, did not lose momentum. In fact, the ever escalating tension in the movie had me on pins and needles the entire time, nearly jumping out of my skin on several occasions. Yes, the director went for some typical scare tactics, like the classic cat jumping out of nowhere, but when they happened they hardly seemed tacky, especially when mixed with the awesomely eerie soundtrack and excellent timing.
The story leading into the possession scenes set the tone perfectly, as well as tying everything together in a nice little package for the climactic final battle of Good VS Evil. The acting of the pregnant 16 year old Italian girl was phenomenal. I can’t say from personal eyewitness account that that is what demonic possession would look like, but damn, I would imagine that was the most realistic portrayal, I have ever seen. Skip the pea soup, head spinning, crucifix sex toys and you are left with raw evil flowing through what used to be an innocent teenager.
Anthony Hopkins, as Father Lucas, has yet again brought a streak of genius to the world of horror movies. His superb acting ability combined with his creepy facial expressions have left an image burned into my subconscious that I am sure I will be seeing later tonight in my nightmares. With an actor of Hopkins caliber and reputation, special effects take a backseat, although the special effects of The Rite as minimal as they were, were spot on as was the very, very effective acting abilities of the rest of the cast members.
I loved this movie from start to finish. I can say in all truth, my heart was racing, my hands were clammy and I turned all of the lights on in my apartment, after grabbing my cats to do a walk through to ensure no malevolent spirits were lingering. I don’t believe that everyone will love it as much as I. I’m absolutely positive that the skeptics and anti-religious nuts will rip this movie to shreds, but if there is a single fleeting thought of the possibility of demons, God, or the Devil, this movie will shake you at your core. Maybe not as hard as the classic and still reigning champ, The Exorcist, but you will find yourself shifting anxiously in the dark by the end of it.
Like I said before, “What an excellent day for an exorcism.”
Sleep tight and God Bless, kiddies.
Mikael Hafstrom went from “Evil” to “Derailed” to “1408″, and now, he’s gone to “The Rite”. Strange, how a filmmaker who can make a horror film as good as “1408″ can also manage to make a film as mediocre and disappointing as “The Rite”. But then again, “The Rite” is such a different film; more of a drama than a horror film, and only possessing a few good moments whereas “1408″ had many scattered throughout. Long story short, it’s mildly entertaining, but never is “The Rite” particularly engaging.
“The Rite” is not silly; it is not stupid. It knows some of what it’s talking about, such as the subjects of exorcism and the like, but it’s not as deep as classics such as “The Exorcist”. I don’t go in to exorcism horror flicks to get the next “Exorcist”. I go to them to see a well-staged exorcism somewhere near the end of the film, along with haunting and scary material/build-up. Alas, that’s just not what you get with this film.
A young man named Michael (Colin O’Donoghue) is attending college, which is a seminary school, if only to obtain a free degree. His father was the owner of a mortuary; a religious man who compelled Michael to believe what he believed in, religiously, throughout his child-hood. Michael doubts his own faith, even in the company of the ever-so-faithful, and learns that he might have to become an exorcist. Thus, he consults a much older religious figure, a priest named Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), for guidance in this field; since Lucas has carried out quite a few successful exorcisms in his time.
In his teachings, Michael discovers many things; and helps treat many patients. This would have made for an interesting journey, involving an interesting character, if the film could have touched its many subjects with more delicacy. For what it’s worth, the film respects spirituality; and is very much FOR Christianity and the belief in Christ; as all good exorcism films are. But…”The Rite” is not a good exorcism film; even if those don’t exactly grow on trees, existent for the picking.
The first major problem that I must point out is the pacing. There are many flaws in this area. The film does not begin as an interesting or engaging film; yet the final twenty minutes or so are pretty entertaining and well-done. But even that can’t make up for overall mediocrity.
The second problem lies within the performance of one of the film’s stars; Colin O’Donoghue. I just can’t call the guy “good” most of the time. Mediocre, perhaps, since he doesn’t just plain suck, but I couldn’t sympathize or understand the character enough to like the acting. Anthony Hopkins, however, is as good as he always is; turning in yet another praise-worthy performance as an accomplished actor, doing what he likes to do, in movies that he probably doesn’t like.
Otherwise, cinematography is all-good, and Hafstrom’s filmmaking techniques aren’t poor. The film has been criticized heavily by horror sites such as “Bloodydisgusting.com”, although I do not trust their writers for watching-inspiration to begin with. If they seriously think that “The Rite” is one of the worst horror films out there, then they are gravely mistaken. It’s not bad horror that makes “The Rite” so absurdly uneven; it’s bad drama. Maybe that’s not the kind of thing that most people expected out of the film, and this might be why they hate it so much. But I don’t hate it. In fact, there are things that I do admire about “The Rite”; it’s just hard- very hard- to call the film a success.
Anthony Hopkins delivers an incredibly fantastic performance and his presence in every single scene is just awesome. I also enjoyed the strong possession-performance from youngster Marta Gastini.
Rome looks as beautiful as always, the camera work is brilliant, the visual- and the make-up effects all look stunning.
Everything else pretty much sucks:
Most of the time it’s boring and dull. There is not much suspense and the scares are all quite predictable.
The performances from Colin O’Donoghue and Alice Braga are lame, the soundtrack is weak, it’s packed with way too many annoying exorcism-clichés and the ending/climax is simply disappointing.
“The Rite” is about as entertaining as “Exorcist: The Beginning”, but also in some kind of way as superfluous as “The Unborn”.
A very slow burner and only really held together by Hopkins’ performance. The Rite was helmed as the new “Exorcist” unfortunately it did not live up to the hype. I wanna see more head turning and masturbating with crucifixes please otherwise, i’m outta here!!
BORING! It wasn’t even that this movie lacked blood, guts and gore, it was that the trailer made me think I would be watching a truly terrifying movie. Which, it is not.
I recommend you watch when you are absolutely bored out of your tree.
yea this was kind of ehh.
Kind of a watered down version of the exorcist but still had some good moments. I would imagine its hard to be truly demonic with a PG13 rating.
Not going to lie, I expected a lot more from an Anthony Hopkin’s exorcism film… not that it’s his fault… he’s was the only redeemable thing about this film. I mean, it wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it was extremely disappointing. AND WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH ALICE BRAGA BEING IN SO MANY MOVIES LATELY?!?! She’s probably one of the most boring and unappealing actresses I’ve ever seen in my life. YAWN
A very boring and lack luster horror film which earned its pg rating. The only thing scary about this mess is that it was marketed as a horror movie.
Completely uninspired performance by the young priest (not sure of the actor’s name) making the essential storyline (ie. the protagonist) weak from the start. I find the guy more annoying than sympathetic…somebody you would never imagine going through an existential crisis, let alone deciding on whether or not to become a priest. You just can’t accept the guy. The only thing that carried the film for me was the fact that I’m interested in the topic of demonic possession. I was genuinely impressed with the possessed Italian girl’s portrayal..the most “realistic” rendering of “real-life” possession I’ve seen on film. As terrifying as Regan was in The Exorcist, this seemed more what an actual possession would be. So big thumbs up on HER acting skills. Anthony Hopkins was playing the “possessed by the devil” version of his old “Hannibal” incarnation…it was painfully obvious throughout. All in all it’s weak but has some redeeming features…if you’re interested in the topic.
i enjoyed this film, i think its underated
Its like 10 other Exorcism movies except it has someone famous in it âe” Anthony Hopkins. It wasnâe(TM)t a bad film, it was slightly entertaining, but its like a bunch of other movies with the same subject matter and it got boring towards the end. I donâe(TM)t think Iâe(TM)ll watch it again. Check out a more in depth review at my Horror Movie/Book review site @ ShiversOfHorror.com
This was alot better than people are giving it credit here
The Rite goes wrong in so many ways. The Rite, The Exorcist 2, The Devil Inside. Can you just leave the exorcism subgenre alone? Another washed-down moronic genre pic that’s bound to be a crowd-pleaser. The acting is shaky, the direction is uninspired, and this was the most devoid of scares movies I’ve seen in a while. What an awful movie.
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