• Starring: Laura Linney, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Tom Wilkinson
  • Summary: In an extremely rare decision, the Catholic Church officially recognized the demonic possession of a 19 year-old college freshman. The Exorcism of Emily Rose chronicles the haunting trial of the priest accused of negligence resulting in the death of the young girl believed to be possessed. Inspired by true events, the film stars Laura Linney as the lawyer who takes on the task of defending the priest (Wiklinson) who performed the controversial exorcism. (Sony) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 32
  2. Negative: 7 out of 32
  1. Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    80
    Some genuine shocks punctuate The Exorcism of Emily Rose, an unusually intelligent genre item that manages to mix full-bore horror with courtroom drama.
  2. 60
    Could have been both a gripping courtroom drama and a chilling "is she or isn't she?" horror tale. What we have instead is a movie that drifts, almost unmanned, from plot point to plot point.
  3. The dullest exorcist movie ever made.

See all 32 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 46
  2. Negative: 8 out of 46
  1. DonP.
    8
    This film was far better than the reviews made it out to be - I agree with the Chronicle's review "a thinking man's horror film". I'm a huge Laura Linney fan and thought she was fabulous. I was sucked in, and much more scared and shook up than I am by stupid grotesque slasher movies. This film avoids cheap exploitations to try to convey what actually happened, and I find that to be more unsettling. Go see it. It's interesting that the users' ratings are so much higher than the critics'. Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. ChristopherW.
    4
    As much as I had hoped this story would captivate me, I simply never found the film adequately engaging. Most of the plot is conveyed through flashbacks that are distressingly deviant in tone and purpose from the present day scenes set in a courtroom. If the audience is meant to question the forces of evil that may exist in the world or is asked to feel sympathy and compassion for Emily's fate, we are never given a real sense of why any of this really matters. I fully dismiss all supernatural explanations, but I am still intrigued by the notion that there are people who don't. Emily Rose ultimately fails to meaningfully connect to its audience because the screenplay is never quite sure what it wants to do. Is it fright film? Is it allegory? Is it a tale of mental illness? Is it a tale of demonic possession? Is it a courtroom battle between reason and faith? Maybe the film is all of these things. Unfortunately all of these ambiguous angles eventually steal each other's thunder. The film is too cluttered with ideas, but the performances are no less than adequate. In any case, Emily Rose is a mixed bag. Proceed with caution! Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. KyleM
    0
    Bad just bad. nothing good about this movie. just plain old boring and dumb.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 46 User Reviews

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