We rented

The Exorcism of Emily Rose on Amazon, and while Bryce couldn’t seem to

stay awake, I was reminded of one of my favorite possession movies ever made.

This was a Patreon pick of the month, and they voted on it, so we reviewed it.

Synopsis of

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The

Exorcism of Emily Rose is directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister) and is the

story of a court case where The People are prosecuting Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson) for the negligent homicide of

Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter). Good news for Father Moore,

Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) is on the case.

https://youtu.be/cmLfRVVRbmg

As we are

walked through the trial, we get glimpses into the hellish end of days that

made up Emily’s life. She was a deeply devout catholic girl in a deeply devout

catholic family, and that never seems to be a good combination in possession

movies. 

Watch The Exorcism of Emily RoseWatch on AmazonClick to Watch

The

defender of The People is Ethan Thomas (Campbell Scott), and he makes the claims that

Emily was epileptic and psychotic, which could have been treated medically. 

Erin has to

come to terms with her own lack of faith to depict this priest in the light of

his intentions and the reality that the possession was real, and the exorcism

was vital to save Emily from the devil.

Review of The

Exorcism of Emily Rose

The

Exorcism of Emily Rose is an interesting and well-executed movie that

really floored me the first time I watched it several years after it’s 2005

release. I’ve seen it a handful of times since then, and it continues to be

compelling to watch.

The visuals

in this movie work best on the first go-around, so it didn’t have the same

disturbing impact on me this time as it did my first viewing.

I

appreciate the new twist on an old classic - being told from the perspective of

the homicide case made it much less of a movie about possession and much more

of a movie about faith and religion. The Defense attorney had her own brushes

with the demonic during her trial, which gave the movie stakes in the present.

This movie

respects the audience and shows a lot of restraint in favor of fewer terrifying

moments. The result is that these very disturbing scenes have a heavier impact.

I’m a

sucker for a well-made possession movie, and this is exactly that.

Score

8/10

Spoilers for The Exorcism of Emily Rose

This starts

with a great ambiance shot of a dreary farm-house in a mist-covered field. A medical

examiner shows up to find Emily deceased, surrounded by her family, and in

horrific condition. He can’t conclusively say that the cause of death is

natural, which makes a great allusion, not only to murder but to the

possibility of satanic possession.

How's eating bug for ambiance?

The Religion/Science

Dichotomy

The Exorcism of Emily Rose asks the interesting question of, “What is possession, real or explained away with mental health diagnoses?” I love the way this movie tackles that question. First, from the side of the Prosecution (science), then from the side of the Defense (religion).

Many times we will see Emily acting possessed, and horrible

things will happen to her that appear to be because of the supernatural. For

example, she will be out in the field in the throws of possession, and stigmata will appear on her

hands. When viewed from the side of the Defense telling the account, it will

appear as it the mark on her hands show up without any outside influence. When

viewed from the side of the Prosecution, it shows that Emily grabs tightly onto

a barbwire fence, producing the wounds in the palm of each hand.

Ouch!

I enjoy the way this movie walks the line between religion

and science – never tainting the audience with a “true” fact one way or the

other.

The Exorcism

We only get to see bits and pieces of the actual exorcism of

Emily, but what we do see is harrowing. The actual (real-life) exorcism of