Big Al takes on Satan in this new “based on a true story” exorcism flick.
Making an exorcism movie is sort of like making a shark movie – there’s a really big elephant in the room. For shark movies, that elephant is called Jaws. For exorcism flicks, it’s called, obviously, The Exorcist. It doesn’t stop people from trying, though. As evidence, we present the latest dog-collars-and-demons effort to come down the pike, The Ritual.
Directed by David Midell, who co-wrote the screenplay with Enrico Natale, The Ritual sees former Godfather Al Pacino as real life exorcist Theophilus Riesinger. Set in 1928, the film follows the case of Emma Schmidt (Abigail Cowen) an Iowa woman whose exorcism is said to be the most well-documented instance of demonic possession in American history. How much the film covers is a bit murky – publicists loathe giving out plot details – but Schmidt’s exorcism lasted a marathon four months and change, which makes the one that Father Merrin and Father Karras pulled off look like pretty light work.
Dan Stevens, who we’re always happy to see crop up, co-stars as fellow priest Father Joseph Steiger, while Ashley Greene, Patricia Heaton, Ritchie Montgomery, and María Camila Giraldo round out the supporting cast. And while that trailer’s a bit on the short side, we did get flung this little behind-the-scenes snippet with an actual priest giving us the low down:
We’re always a bit wary about these “true” exorcism movies, though. There’s a fine line between demonic possession and undiagnosed mental illness. Anneliese Michel, whose case inspired The Exorcism of Emily Rose, died of malnutrition and dehydration as a direct result of her ritual exorcism, which takes some of the fun out of things, doesn’t it? Schmidt, at least, survived hers, although how closely the movie cleaves to the documented facts is anyone’s guess.
We’ll find out when The Ritual hits Australian cinemas on June 6.
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