Man, so I went to Rome to study under the creme de la creme of exorcism teachers and boom! I was doing exorcisms. For real, they are real?! Who knew. Anyways, I got bopped in the head by a demon naturally and now can’t remember a thing. Do you remember what happened in The Rite?
Pop Quiz Hot Shot!
1) Why does Michael intend to enter the clergy in the beginning of the film?
2) Ultimately why does he want to withdraw his intention of taking the vows and becoming a priest at St. Osmund College?
3) What event makes him change his mind … well, how is he pressured into doing it?
4) Due to further lapses in faith Michael is sent to Father Lucas Trevant to witness an exorcism. What test (the quickest test according to Trevant) do they perform to prove the girl is possessed?
5) Nearing the end of the film why is Michael trying to get back to the US? Why can’t he? And what spooooooooooky event occurs while Michael is in Paris?
Bonus Question: When is the next time Michael is called in to do an exorcism after Father Lucas?
Answers
1) In his family people become one of two things, funeral directors or priests. He wants to escape his home and his town, and seminary school is the one way he can do that without devastating his father (he thinks).
2) He lacks faith. He aced psychology and art history, but it is revealed he struggled in theology, and in the end he begins writing his letter telling them that he lacks the proper foundation, the faith, to become a priest.
3) The priest at the seminary tries to stop him in the street to talk to him about it and a woman is killed in an accident. Michael, anoints her, and the priest, seeing this becomes convinced that he should enter into the new Exorcism course in the Vatican. He threatens to concert his scholarship into a loan, costing $100 thousand, thus forcing Michael to accept his offer.
4) They have Michael put a personal object, an American dollar, in a bag and have her guess the object. “Knowledge of the unknowable” is the test.
5) Michael is trying to get back to see his father, Rutger Hauer, who had an accident of some kind and was in a coma in the hospital. He can’t manage to get back to the US because of the Iceland volcano eruption in 2010 (!). And while trying to get an update about his father’s condition he talks to his father on the phone … six hours after he passed away! Ba ba ba!!!!!!!!
Bonus Question: Trick question, because he was actually just about to do an exorcism at the end of the film. His confessional is actually a trap door. People seeking exorcisms come in and put in a super secret Vatican coin, the entire confessional spins around, and they are in Michael’s secret lair, a place he is able to do his radical modern exorcisms of the demons all over the tri-state area. Paired with his journalist friend Angeline (wait, is this odd couple starting to feel a bit romantical about each other?!). The Rite: New York is a demon-of-the-week procedural coming to CBS this fall!
Fine, the last bonus question didn’t happen … yet. CBS, call me, I’ll definitely make The Rite: New York if you need a new procedural.
Bad Movie Twins 