Review by
Sue Finn
Directed by: Justin P. Lange
Starring: Guy Pearce, Vadhir Derbez, Stephen Lang, Keith
David
We begin with a flashback as a title card tells us it's October 8th, 1995
in Baltimore, and the city is about to host a visit from The Pope; a time
of great excitement for a deeply religious city.
Father Louis (a cameo-ing Keith David) prepares to perform an
exorcism on a writhing possessed child that awaits in the next room. There
is a poor novice priest he brings with him who is, of course, vulnerable
and shaky in the face of the possessing demon.
When things go horribly wrong, it’s time for novice Father Peter to step
up.
The story jumps to present day New Orleans and we are in a meet-cute
between young Father Daniel Garcia (Vadhir Derbez) and a wizened
and bitter father Peter, now played by the sublime Guy Pearce.
Father Daniel is here to help stem the encroaching cases of possessed
individuals in need of exorcisms.
We have an explanation of the underground rogue exorcist priests led by
Peter that Daniel is about to join, brought to you by the excellent
Stephen Lang as his excellence the Archbishop, who adds much needed
weight to a scene that could have been cringey.
Father Daniel has a ride along with Peter to the local homeless ‘tent
city’ where a demon disguised as an itinerant woman scares him silly.
Thanks to this scene, we enjoy a beautiful shot of tents blowing out from
under a bridge that was visually arresting, and the horror in this scene
is of the creeping-under-your-skin variety that I find most effective.
Among the homeless they get a lead that turns into an investigation into
the life of a possessed and murderous boy named Charlie - he has deep and
troubling secrets that have opened him up to all sorts of corruption.
Of course, a Ouija board is involved and some precocious kids to help the
two priests crack the case.
This feature from Justin Lange is disappointing given the calibre
of talent involved and the moments of quality that shine through. The idea
of a Training Day buddy cop/The Exorcist
hybrid is a good one, and this film duly comes to life when concentrating
on the old school/new school priests riff and clash. It is let down by a
muddy plot and a few too many ‘exorcism movie’ cliches. I wish it worked
harder at being gritty - a '70s Cruising vibe would have
worked wonders here - but it feels a bit too ‘shiny’ at times, too modern.
There are certainly things to enjoy. One scene lit by the strobe lights of
gunfire is starkly memorable and in fact many of the director's artistic
choices are impressive – the cinematography is frequently beautiful, it
moves briskly, the soundtrack is pleasing and works well, and the dialogue
between the priests feels more natural than you’d expect.
The acting across the board is good to really good. Pearce can play roles
like this in his sleep and I lament the fact that he no longer seems to
grace big screen fare, but he certainly elevates the material here and I
am always happy to see such a great actor. He is never less than
believable as the cynical, hard-living Father Peter, and is the ace in the
hole for this movie.
More disappointing than bad, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy some of this film.
I just could have enjoyed it all so much more.
The Seventh Day is on UK/ROI DVD
and Digital from April 26th.
