The Exorcism of Emily Rose (or )

The Exorcism of Emily Rose felt very much like a special Halloween episode of Law & Order, which isn’t to say that it was bad, but that it was much more focused on the courtroom drama than Emily’s supposed demon possession itself. The bulk of the movie happens in the courtroom, with brief narrative flashbacks that show how the alleged possession started and ultimately ended with Emily’s death. Whether her condition was supernatural or not is left for the viewer to decide, as the movie doesn’t entirely take a firm stance on the subject. If you enjoy courtroom thrillers then you will probably like this one, but do not go into it expecting a movie like The Exorcist.

The film starts with the arrest of Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson), a local priest who performed a failed exorcism on Emily and is charged with negligent homicide for her resulting death. Up-and-coming defense attorney Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) is told to take the case by her firm, which represents the arch diocese. The trial begins immediately, and as Erin investigates the circumstances of Emily’s alleged possession and eventual death, she begins to fear that she herself is under attack from dark forces as strange things start happening to her late at night. Apparently, according to the movie anyway, these demonic activities always go down at 3am, so if you ever wake up in the middle of the night at 3am then the most logical conclusion that you can come to is that you are about to become possessed. Just so you know.

The movie uses the courtroom scenes as juxtaposition for the two competing theories for Emily’s condition. Either she was possessed by demons or she was suffering from the very rare mental condition of Psychotic Epileptic Disorder. As witnesses recount what happened to Emily, the film switches to absolutely terrifying flashbacks that show exactly how she became possessed in her perspective. But, when the district attorney cross-examines the same witnesses, flashbacks are again shown that explain how the same phenomena could just as easily be explained using medical reasons (e.g. having a violent seizure instead of being physically attacked by demons). The flashback scenes of Emily’s initial possession are absolutely scary as hell—extremely suspenseful and oftentimes disturbing. Her experiences are horrifying to witness, and her physical state rapidly begins to deteriorate, which ultimately leads to her demise. The “demons” won’t allow her to eat anything except spiders, which are ostensibly a nutritious diet for the forces of evil, but not quite enough for humans as Emily essentially starves to death.

The movie did a good job of remaining ambiguous for the most part, and I suppose that the filmmakers did not want to rehash old material by making the film solely a possession/exorcism movie. I don’t think that I could classify The Exorcism of Emily Rose as a “scary movie” overall, but it is definitely a decent courtroom thriller with some supernatural elements. The possession scenes were easily some of the scariest moments I have seen in any movie, and I was really disappointed that there were so few of them. I’m certain that many of these disturbing parts will stay with me for a while, which itself made the movie worthwhile for me personally. I mean, the sight of someone being pressed into a mattress and strangled by an unseen force is simply not something I can easily dismiss.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a good film as far as courtroom thrillers go but disappointing for a horror movie. Four stars for the former, two for the latter.