I'm going to be honest -- I saw most of The Exorcism of Emily Rose while peeking through my fingers. Face it: This movie is scary, though its unique fusion of horror/satanic motifs with tense courtroom drama make it much more than that.
Based on a true story, Emily Rose works backwards to unravel the mystery of the death of the namesake, an afflicted college student played by Jennifer Carpenter. Emily was taken off medical treatment in favor of exorcism rituals performed by Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson), who is arrested for negligent death when Emily dies. Most people involved in the case believe Emily's affliction was a psychotic-epileptic disorder, not possession.
Hotshot defense attorney Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) takes on the high-profile case with the promise of becoming senior partner if she wins.
Bruner, an agnostic, is skeptical of Father Moore at first -- his insistence on the presence of demonic spirits is unbelievable. But as she gets deeper in the case, Bruner begins to believe in the demons, especially after a few sinister, inexplicable incidents at home make her question her beliefs.
The details of Emily's exorcism are revealed through the flashbacks of courtroom testimony. The film is as much a courtroom drama as it is a horror story.
The style of Emily Rose is artful -- editing is frenetic during the exorcism scene and patient in the courtroom. Divided between two worlds, the film compares the cold landscape of Emily's rural home, stuck in a time warp, and that of the modern city. Both are painted in shades of gray and white, both feel desolate and both become tangled in supernatural forces. In this way, the contrast between the spiritual and the secular, between exorcism rituals and judicial procedures is highlighted.
When Father Moore tells Bruner to be careful, she is "under attack ... by the dark forces surrounding this case," it rings like a B-horror movie. But questionable dialogue is balanced by the frightening scenes of Emily's possession.
In an early scene, Emily is in school when the faces of her classmates suddenly transform into demons.
The role of Emily Rose does not require much dialogue, but Carpenter invokes wretched screams and violent contortions with skill and delivers convincing suffering and agony.
Unlike most supernatural movies, Emily Rose provides an alternate, scientific explanation of Emily's death through the prosecution's often-persuasive testimony.
Yet, the movie favors Father Moore's side, and in the end it hastily patches together an answer to explain Rose's possession. After all, most of the movie hinges upon the development of the defender, Bruner, and the suspense surrounding the fate of Father Moore.
A movie like The Exorcist probably packs more excruciating and terrifying scenes. But while The Exorcism of Emily Rose does contain its share of horror, the real story lies within the courtroom and the struggle of Bruner to reconcile religion and science, faith and facts.
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