>>REVIEW
THE REAPING
STARRING Hilary Swank, David Morrissey and Idris Elba
DIRECTED BY Stephen Hopkins
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Deep in the southern town of Haven, in a state that remains nameless, something strange is happening. The bible-thumping town in question is being visited by events eerily consistent with the 10 plagues. Scientist Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank) is brought in to investigate. To add a twist to the proceedings, Winter is an ordained minister who turned her back on God and religion years ago and now spends her time disproving supposed miracles with scientific explanations.
That clash is the source of the film’s most interesting dialogue, especially her convincing recounting of the original biblical story of the 10 plagues and her totally rational, science-based explanation for them. Beyond that, the first 70 of the movies’ 96 minutes are a paint-by-numbers horror film, even though it is dressed nicely in religious debate and deeper-than-usual inner conflict.
All characters in the film adhere nicely to the three rules of horror film etiquette – investigate every noise and random scream to the fullest extent possible, always hide in the most illogical place you can find, and never, ever listen to the most rational explanation of the events in question. As such, every character either dies an appropriately predictable death or obtains their expected hero status.
Even though director Stephen Hopkins’s film is less than groundbreaking, he is a masterful storyteller. Swank’s character experiences what are either flashbacks, visions, hallucinations or a combination of all three throughout the film – all the while dressed rather elegantly. It becomes difficult to dissect the real from the imagined, not to mention the past from the present. Occasionally, these flashback/vision scenes are tied back into the narrative for a "wow" moment, with no real purpose.
What becomes abundantly clear after the film is over is that the whole thing exists for the final five minutes – a truly enjoyable twist ending. The result of which is perhaps the greatest filmmaking trick of all – The Reaping seems much better than it was. |
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