Movie Review: The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

The plot of The Exorcism of Emily Rose is pretty interesting: a court has to decide on the guilt of a priest who performed an exorcism on a young woman who died. The movie poses some interesting questions about religion in modern society, for sure, and Tom Wilkinson is quite good as Father Richard Moore.

Unfortunately, the movie seems to largely miss the mark overall. The story of the exorcism is largely told in flashbacks, of course, because it needs to be told that way for the story, but this definitely lessens the suspense that this story would have. While the jury is forced to ask questions, director Scott Derrickson (Sinister, Doctor Strange) never lets the audience have much doubt as to whether or not Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter, Carpenter) was possessed.

Perhaps the most damning aspect of this movie — at least for me — is Laura Linney in the lead as Erin Bruner, Father Moore’s defense lawyer. I’m not sure how much of this is just a personal preference thing because I’ve just about always found Linney incredibly bland in her many roles I’ve seen, but she definitely wasn’t compelling for me in this film.

The courtroom approach to this basic exorcism story probably makes it seem more intelligent than it actually is. It’s a pretty unique approach for a horror film, but when you remove the facade, the story is nothing spectacular.

Rating: 5/10