The Rite (Mikael Håfström, 2011)

A young man, about to enter the priesthood but stricken with a severe crisis of faith is taken under the tutelage of an older fire-and-brimstone exorcist and finds his religion at last when faced with incontrovertible proof of demonic possession. Yes, it's The Exorcist, except this time in Rome, just for the sake of moody ecclesiastical architecture. Anthony Hopkins uberhams on a par with Hannibal as the veteran demon-banisher, which may be just as well since the nominal lead Colin O'Donoghue is a hopelessly wet flannel.
Hopkins promises us that we won't be seeing spinning heads or pea soup, but this is only because we have CGI to make the possessed look spooky these days. It's as lacking in internal logic as any run-of-the-mill Man vs. Satan factory production and only any good for bolstering Sir Anthony's already considerable bank balance, and certainly not the directorial reputation of Håfström, who really needs to make a clean break by now from his smudgy fixation with The Devil. The religiously inclined may still be tempted regardless, since it's 'inspired by true events'. Oh well, waste two hours if the power of Christ compels you.

3/10