The Rite Reviews

Dull and overlong at times, but also scary when it needs to be.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10

Playing like a chilling short story, an intriguing central relationship between the leads makes up for what it lacks in pace or impact.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Packed with a few good old fashioned jolts, "The Rite" is an atmospheric film that is kept on track by the performance of Anthony Hopkins.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Hopkins' light touch brightens up this exorcism film, one more concerned with creepy atmosphere than straight-out nastiness.

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Hopkins's hammy display serves The Rite well, if only to warn one and all this enjoyably silly movie is not to be taken all that seriously.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5

It may not convince you of the existence of the devil but, with its true-story twist on a popular cinematic theme, it adequately entertains.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

This exorcism thriller has enough elements to last the distance and offers an unsettling experience

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Like many other bang-average exorcism movies, it follows a doubting man of God who rediscovers his faith, sharpish, when faced with a swivel-eyed grunter cracking their limbs and bellowing about Satan.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

The Rite is a decently made exorcism thriller with an entertainingly hammy performance from Hopkins, but there are several unintentionally laughable moments and it's ultimately not that different from every other exorcism thriller you've ever seen.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

An effective mix of surprising fact and hard-edged fiction.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

The script, especially to start with, is fizzing with good lines.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Hopkins does his thing, and Hallestrom leaves him alone to do it well.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Slow and laboured to start with, this sober spooker gets better once it realises its true calling and lets its star off the leash.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

More interested in theology than gut-churning effects, The Rite is a creepy exorcism thriller elevated a bit above the norm for that reliable genre by a classy look and the gravitas of star Anthony Hopkins.

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The Rite effectively examines faith under fire.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.0/4.0

The fact this Anthony Hopkins led movie is based on a true story makes the implications more intense and the possibilities scarier.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10

What do you call an Exorcist-inspired film free of projectile pea soup and set in Rome? Not too bad, actually.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.0/4.0

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

The Rite doesn't just want to make you jump, it's looking to send you home unsettled. I don't think it succeeds, but the attempt is admirable.

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For all its formulaic familiarity ... surprisingly effective ...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5