The Rite Movie Review

The Rite Movie Review By Jose Plot:

An American priest travels to Italy to study at an exorcism school. While battling his beliefs.

Review:

I found this movie hard to review. Not for the obvious reasons. I just felt like this movie needs to be seen. So I will try my best to give a good review. So we have a young man, Michael Kovak ( Colin O'Donoghue ) who lives and works in his fathers mortuary/funeral home. To him his only options in life are to stay and take over or go to seminary/priest school. Leaving the option of once getting to the final vows open for him to leave. But here is the problem. Michael is torn between reality and his belief and faith. One unfortunate night, after he sends an email with intent to leave, he is involved in a car accident. Priest falls in street, truck swerves to miss, and hits another lady on a bike. Michael is the only one around to go to her and she asks for her final rights before she dies. This gives the priest who fell in the street the chance to get him back. So he gives Michael an option to go to Italy and study exorcism.
While there Michael is sent to meet with an aging yet unconventional priest that is sort of an expert in exorcism. Father Lucas Trevant ( Anthony Hopkins ) takes him and shows him a exorcism within a few minutes of meeting Michael. Yet he is still wary of what is going on. As the movie progresses and we have more exorcisms involving a pregnant young girl and a child. Michael sees rather compelling evidence of possessions and demon work, yet he is still not convinced of it being a demon but a mental issue with the people. Soon we Michael is introduced to what this demon entity is capable of.
Michael ends up telling the possessed girl that he doesn’t believe in whatever it is possessing her and basically tell it to “fuck off”.
Well the entity gets angry and girls the girl in a gruesome miscarriage scene. Soon Father Lucas grows weary of losing another person to possession and soon finds himself succumbing to that evil. Michael is left alone and experiencing horrify visions and circumstances. Frogs invading his room. A snow covered area with hoof prints and coming face to face with a red eyes mule. His father dying and no way to see him, only to talk to him after he dies hours before. It all comes down to him confronting the now possessed Father Lucas. We learn more of Michaels past at the end when he confronts the evil Father Lucas. How he welcomed in the devil as a child when his mother died and he bent the cross. How weak Michael is and due to his lack of faith they will die. Finally Michael opens up himself to believe that yes there is a devil, but that there also must be a God. Sending the demon back and saving Father Lucas.
Acting was pretty good from Colin O’Donoghue. He played the part of a questioning faith and belief priest pretty well. But the star of this movie is Anthony Hopkins. Hands down the shiny star of the movie. Balancing serious, joking, and down right scaring with ease. I feel this is Anthony Hopkins best role that I have seen him in. I also want to mention that I liked the playfulness that came out of him. Giving a bit of that humor to break the seriousness and creepiness of the movie.

Final Thoughts:

The Rite is a good movie. It surprised me and I really enjoyed it. I felt like I was experiencing a modern version of the Exorcism movie. Good acting and really creepy and scary movie.
Rating: 3 out of 5