The Rite

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Interview with Colin O'Donoghue and Ciarán Hinds

O'Donoghue is pensive twentysomething Michael Kovak. Looking to move out of his (funeral) home and away from the watchful eye of his overbearing father, his options are limited to either joining the family business or joining the priesthood. Going with the latter - purely for the paid-for college education - one of his teachers at college sees something in him and sends him off to Rome to learn the ways of the Exorcist. There, he meets Anthony Hopkins's eccentric demon-banisher, who is so used to sending the evil swines back to hell that he takes phone calls in the middle of sessions. Michael's cynicism is tested to the limit as he witnesses things that can't be explained using science.

Somewhat inexplicably slated by American critics, it's hard to know what they expected of The Rite. This is a film that tries to do something slightly different with a well-worn sub-genre; it pushes the characters to the fore, and hopes that the scares will come from there. Helmer Mikael Hafstrom builds things slowly and is all about the ominous, forgoing the spinning heads and trying to tackle the subject on a more fundamental level of faith. The film is based on a true story, so such an execution makes sense. The problem for some will be that the payoff borders more on 'creepy' than 'frightening'.

It's plain to see that Hopkins is really enjoying himself in the role of the experienced yet pragmatic priest. His exchanges with O'Donoghue, especially later on, are a lot of fun and the two offer a nice, if slightly distracting contrast in performance styles. O'Donoghue holds back, while Hopkins makes Linda Blair looks like she simply came down with a bad dose of PMS. That said, the ending is a little too neat; everything is wrapped up in a nice little bow, with too many unanswered questions.

The Rite doesn't have much in the way of ostentatious scares, which may disappoint hard-nut horror fans baying for blood. It is admirably subdued with a nice debut turn from O'Donoghue, however, which makes it worth a viewing.