Irish newcomer Colin O'Donoghue is Michael Kovak, a trainee priest with huge doubts over his calling. He announces to his superior, Father Matthew that due to a lack of faith he wishes to resign. If he leaves Michael would have to pay a sufficient student loan, therefore Father Matthew strikes a deal with him to convince him to stay. If he attends an exorcism seminar in Rome and afterwards is still not convinced that the priesthood is for him, the loan will be cancelled and he can leave the cloth a free man.
During his time in Rome, it becomes obvious that he is a total sceptic and it is recommended that he visit Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) who is renowned for performing exorcisms. He spends a lot of time with Father Lucas and sits in on a couple of exorcisms, however he remains unconvinced that there are any demonic goings on. That is until Father Lucas beings to act very strange and shows some signs of demonic possession himself. Kovak himself is experiencing his own illusions of his own concerning his dead mother and his estranged mortician father, played by Rutger Hauer
Kovak befriends curious reporter Angeline (Alice Braga) and together they set about helping Father Lucas. In order to do this he must put his own demons behind him and step into the relatively unknown world of exorcism.
Anthony Hopkins dusts of his Hannibal Lecter character for this role and is fantastic - as usual! He plays demonic so well that he alone is reason enough to watch the movie. O'Donoghue is excellent as the spiritually confused priest and has a really good rapore on screen with Hopkins. The plot is quite flimsy and it's not the scariest exorcism movie ever made. In saying that there are plenty of scares and tense moments to please horror thriller fans.
Score: 5/10
