The Rite Reviews

Against all odds, a film that avoids overbidding and mediocrity by hitting the right spot despite a subject that is too hackneyed these days.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since I always had a weak spot for Anthony Hopkins, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the first disappointing thing was that, even though the damned thing was obviously sold as a Anthony Hopkins vehicle, the guy had actually had only a supporting part and he got finally involved with the proceedings only after about 40 minutes. Then, I have to admit that the whole thing had some potential and I  liked the fact that they tried to tackle more or less seriously the subject of exorcism. Unfortunately, they only tried but never succeeded, I'm afraid. Basically, even though they gave some space to discuss the fact that someone supposedly possessed might actually have some psychological issues which was interesting, it was unfortunately ruined by the usual over-the-top theatrics that you always get with this genre. As a result, any legitimate doubts displayed by the main character became obsolete which was too bad. Indeed, if they could have made the whole thing slightly more subtle so that the viewers could make up their own mind about what they saw, it would have been much more interesting. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was watchable, it was still a really generic and forgettable horror flick and I don't think it is really worth a look.

Time and time again, we witness all of these horror exorcism films that are “based on true stories” where they always provide the exact same tone, style of filming and type of suspense in an attempt to terrify its target audience. There has not been one single exorcism film to have been a strong match to sum-up or even surpass the horrifying and realistic execution of the battles between good and evil ever the release of The Exorcist back in 1973 and, quite frankly as predicted, The Rite is another failed exorcism film that is another cheesy and dull addition to the horror/thriller genre that is forgettable, but does have one or two positive aspects.


Although The Rite occasionally has its rather scary segments that are quite difficult to endure, the biggest problem that the film has is that it is just is depressingly flat throughout the majority of the time. It’s like the film is as dry as a plank of wood as it lacks a specific meaning and doesn’t leave the audience with anything to deeply think about. Plus, even though the background art within Rome, in the churches etc and the costumes and make-up upon the actors are absolutely fantastic, The Rite lacks almost everything that’s supposed to meet the feelings of the audiences as the production aspects were the substitutes over the feelings of terror that the film should have had.


The Rite is not the first time that Swedish director and screenwriter Mikael Håfström has brought forth a horror film. He previously worked on 1408 and on the 2010 thriller Shanghai, but considering that being one who’s not all that familiar with his work, he provides impressively produced aspects (i.e. cinematography, art direction and costumes) but he simply was absolutely no match to bring forth the horror, the reality and the drama in an exorcism film like William Friedkin did in The Exorcist in 1973. In fact, to be able to achieve this is an almost impossibility due to the fact that all these exorcism films nowadays all practically interpret almost exactly the same.


The great Sir Anthony Perkins already made his mark in the horror/thriller genre after his Academy Award winning performance as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Silence Of The Lambs and later on portraying said character in the sequel and prequel. However, having said that Anthony Hopkins’ appearance in The Rite is a very crucial aspect that perhaps did save it from disaster, Hopkins still gave a satisfactory performance that is decent enough to endure for 100+ minutes, but he really can do so much better than this! Colin O’Donoghue makes only his third consecutive appearance in a feature film, but first Hollywood film debut, as Michael Kovak. Unfortunately, Kovak provides a performance that was almost like watching paint dry as he provides almost no emotion nor fright to the young man in the slightest, although there have been a few other young actors who’ve given more disappointing performances over the years. The chemistry between O’Donoghue and Hopkins was very one-sided as it felt a lot like it was Hopkins doing all the work and that O’Donoghue gave assumptions that he didn’t want to be part of the film at all. There’s a surprise appearance from veteran Dutch actor Rutger Lauer also best known for the horror/thriller films he has done throughout his career, so he, like Hopkins, provides some kind of sophistication to The Rite.


Overall, The Rite is just another exorcism film making a worthless attempt at renovating the particular the theme within the genre, but turns out a plain and rather flat that really doesn’t terrify the audience all that much. As stated, Hopkins and Rauer add a tad bit of spice into the film but having said that, the other aspects within The Rite just don’t provide the horror and intense experience that we should have had.

Is this better than the majority of horror movies that have been released in the past several years? Yes I think so. But is it on par with something I'd expect from Anthony Hopkins? Absolutely not. I'm convinced that in his advanced years he's taking roles for the fun of it, roles that allow him to indulge. He's already gotten all the acclaim and recognition any one actor can hope to have. I doubt he needs the money, so I'm thinking his decision to play the part of Father Lucas in this film is based simply on the fact that it sounded fun. . Even though I was secretly thinking that his role of Dr. Lecter would have easily fit here and been appropriate. It was insidious and intense. Just what this film needed.

The first two acts are done well, and I was prepared to give it a 7. I was wholeheartedly anticipating the inevitable climax which I knew was coming from the previews, but I was severely disappointed. Up until that point, the movie was sophisticated and smart. However by the end, it had descended into a cheese fest like you wouldn't believe. All because of that terrible dialogue. It was just funny. I do mean literally funny; the audience started laughing. I hated to see such a phenomenal actor as Hopkins having to actually go through with that melodramatic fluff. I think if the writers toned it down a bit and opted for subtlety the outcome would have been many times better. It seems that every movie dealing with exorcism has to go The Exorcist route and try to drum up some profoundly shocking dialogue. That's a losing battle. The Exorcist is in a league of it's own. Don't try to beat it; do your own thing. That's why I appreciate Exorcism of Emily Rose. Now that was a rather good film. As it stands now, The Rite is still a capable film, but those last 20 minutes really don't do it for me. It was there that the whole thing took a nose dive.

Most of this movie is strangely shot in a poorly lit studio. Still, Anthony Hopkins delivers and the editing and score pull everything together.

"Be careful Michael, choosing not to believe in the devil doesn't protect you from him."

Here's the thing about exorcism-related horror movies: exorcisms are incredibly uninteresting in a cinematic production. Sure, it's exciting to consider a battle royale between an agent of Satan and an agent of God, but exorcisms merely boil down to a priest screaming religious words with wild abandon while a possessed figure writhers around. 1973's The Exorcist was pretty much the first film to do it right, and is now widely looked upon as the greatest horror movie of all time. 2011's The Rite is yet another hopeful but thoroughly half-hearted attempt by filmmakers to scare viewers just as much as The Exorcist did almost four decades ago. The Rite has all the scares and smarts of a Z-grade direct-to-DVD thriller, not to mention it's amazingly hokey and at times unintentionally hilarious. As a matter of fact, the film is tolerable enough if viewed as a comedy, but it's a putrid failure if viewed as a serious horror movie.

The Exorcist, anyone?

Raised by his disinterested undertaker father (Hauer), atheist Michael Kovak (O'Donoghue) elects to enter the priesthood as a way to ensure he won't be forced into the family business. The ensuing seminary training challenges Michael's atheism, but the young man prepares to leave the school as he nevertheless cannot bring himself to believe in God. However, his mentor (Jones) senses something special within Michael, and recommends that he move to Rome to study exorcism at the Vatican. Hesitantly agreeing, Michael arrives in Rome and is sent to spent time with veteran exorcist Father Lucas (Hopkins) to help him overcome his crisis of faith. Following his initial scepticism, Michael experiences a strange case of possession which compels him to reconsider his stance as an atheist.

The opening credits declare that The Rite is "inspired by true events", and goes on to say that the film was "suggested" by Matt Baglio's book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. As with most movies claiming to be inspired by a true story, it actually has very little basis in historical fact. Ironically, Baglio wrote his book with the purpose in mind of showing the real world of church-sanctioned exorcisms rather than the overblown Hollywood version, but now his book has been loosely adapted into an overblown Hollywood movie...

Despite its misjudged pacing, The Rite shows a degree of thoughtfulness and potential for its first hour or so, as the film attempts to delve into religious themes and explore the real world of possession and exorcisms. Less successful in this regard is the material portraying Michael trying to use rational explanations to explain alleged demonic possessions. See, because The Rite is a fucking Hollywood supernatural horror movie, we know that there are demons involved and that Michael will eventually realise this. There is also an additional smattering of clichéd material relating to Michael's relationship with his father, and screenwriter Michael Petroni even haphazardly implies that demons had something to do with the death of a character. Come on! All of this predictable fluff is ripped straight from the Screenwriting 101 handbook, complete with inept, corny dialogue.

Swedish-born director Mikael Håfström was last seen behind the genuinely creepy 2007 chiller 1408, and his talent for atmosphere building is occasionally exhibited in The Rite. Additionally, the cinematography is admittedly slick. Yet, Håfström falters in the pacing department. With a frequently self-serious tone and little momentum, The Rite is rather flat, not to mention it runs 15 or 20 minutes too long. Another problem is that the filmmakers wanted to produce a film that looks and feels authentic and un-Hollywood, yet one that also incorporates standard Hollywood horror movie elements. Suffice it to say, it does not work.

The jury is out as to whether it was intentional, but the second half of The Rite dabbles in comedy to a large degree. At one stage there's an image of a possessed donkey which is guaranteed to have viewers rolling around in fits of laughter. Meanwhile, the climactic exorcism sequence is so daffy that it could be mistaken for something out of a spoof movie. It's hard to take anything seriously if a possessed Anthony Hopkins (decked out in make-up) is taunting a priest with such names as "honey" and "kissy lips". As a matter of fact, it looks as if Hopkins committed the ultimate act of cinematic trolling here with his hilariously over-the-top, hammy performance. Witness him taking a phone call in the middle of an exorcism, bitch slapping a little girl, taking the piss out of the bible, ripping off two pissants, and blurting out words like "Awesome, dude". It's as if Hopkins realised the movie was going to be awful, so he stuffed the huge fat paycheque down his trousers and had an absolute ball. The man's getting old, he needs to have some fun. What better than to troll his way through a terrible movie and get paid to do it? God bless him. The rest of the actors - such as Colin O'Donoghue as Michael, Alice Braga as the journalist, Toby Jones as a priest, and Rutger Hauer as Michael's father - are at least watchable, but do not bring much gravitas to the material.

There is nothing to recommend about The Rite except for Anthony Hopkins' incredibly hammy performance, since there are no real thrills to be had and the story is generic and uninteresting. It's clear that the screenwriter had high ambitions, but they're ultimately wasted on a film that alternates between tedium and unintentional hilarity.

4.4/10

I thought this movie wouldn't be any good, but I liked the way it progressed. I love movies that make you wonder at the end, and I did. Did Lucas Trevant purposely allow himself to be possesed?

yh OK nothing spectacular but as the excorcism genre goes dose well to hold attention. Cant help feeling though that due to 'another' outstanding performace for Mr Hopkins.

nice movie, but not scary at all and a little slow