HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — The Rite, directed by Mikael Håfström, is a supernatural thriller that uncovers the Devil's reach to even one of the holiest places on Earth.
Inspired by true events, the film follows seminary student Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donoghue), who is sent to study exorcism at the Vatican in spite of his own doubts about the controversial practice and even his own faith. Wearing his deep skepticism like armor, Michael challenges his superiors to look to psychiatry, rather than demons, in treating the possessed.
Only when he's sent to apprentice with the unorthodox Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins)--a legendary priest who has performed thousands of exorcisms--does Michael's armor begin to fall. As he is drawn into a troubling case that seems to transcend even Father Lucas's skill, he begins to glimpse a phenomenon science can't explain or control...and an evil so violent and terrifying that it forces him to question everything he believes.
The story of The Rite began as a book proposal by Matt Baglio, a reporter living in Rome, who was struck by the Vatican's 2007 announcement of its initiative to reinstruct the clergy on the rite of exorcism with the goal of installing an exorcist in every diocese worldwide.
"There is universal interest in the rite of exorcism," Håfström attests. "Much of it comes from religion, but a lot also comes from popular culture, with The Exorcist, from back in the '70s, still being the most famous film about this phenomenon. All over the world, people are drawn to the subject, despite the fact--or perhaps even because—it can't be proven or entirely understood. The more you look into it, the more you see there are no easy answers."
As an actor, Hopkins has delved into the nature of evil, most notably with his embodiment of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Of The Rite he says, "There is a debate at play within the film: Is it the Devil? Is there such a personification? Or is it psychology? Is it Freud or God? Who can say?"
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