‘The Rite’ Sinfully Awful

           “The Rite” is a stale, run of the mill “thriller” that will not do anything  to revolutionize the demonic-possession sub-genre. In fact, it takes a big leap back from last year’s “The Last Exorcism.” Even an admirably silly performance from Anthony Hopkins was not enough to save this film from the depths of the cinematic dark abyss.

                The story of “The Rite” deals with a young priest, Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue) whose faith has faltered and is shipped to an exorcism school in Italy where he meets Father Lucas Trevant (Anthony Hopkins) while there.  It is never made entirely clear what caused Kovak to have his lapse in faith, or why he decided to join the priesthood in the first place, but the audience is pulled along with the skeptic Kovak as he watches Father Lucas performance his “exorcisms.” After multiple brushes with demonic forces, one that even takes the life of a young woman, Kovak still refuses to believe that what he is witnessing are acts performed by the devil. A chilling remark from Trevant stating “just because you do not believe in the devil, does not protect you from him,” sets off what could have been an intense battle of faith, but ultimately fizzles into a whirlwind of clichéd tedium.  

                The scenes are long and slow, which is shameful during sequences that should be intense encounters with demonic possession that should shock and frighten both the audience, and Kovak. However, in the end we, and Kovak, are left feeling like we have seen it all before. Cheap jump scares left the audience bored and dialogue heavy scenes without any weight put them to sleep.  Although, the poor writing in this film did not stop Hopkins from making audiences laugh and fear him. His performance alone makes the movie almost palatable. Father Lucas responds to frightening demonic possession with the same boredom that we do, which is humorous for a character in the film to do, but deadly for the audience. A particularly funny scene sees Hopkins uncharacteristically using the words “awesome” and “dude,” before impersonating a young Welshman. If that sounds strange to read, it would be even stranger to watch.

                All jokes aside, Hopkins gave a decent performance showing that he still has that spark of evil that caused people to cringe at the thought of fava beans and chianti. However, in the end the movie falters, as it could have been twenty minutes shorter, and the final showdown left Kovak with only one option and the audience just waiting for him to take it.

                 “The Rite” had a peculiar opening title stating that its story was “suggested by a book by Matt Baglio.” I suggest that you avoid this one. For its abysmal lack of originality, “The Rite” receives a  3 out of 10.