The Reaping

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Horror

I’ve been looking for a really good scary movie recently. “The Messengers” was such a huge disappointment, “Silent Hill” stunk up the place, and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” turned out to be a bit anti-climactic that the last really good scare I had was probably the 2005 version of “The Amityville Horror”. In my quest for a good scary movie, I came upon the trailer of Hilary Swank’s latest film, “The Reaping”.

The film tells a story of former ordained minister Katherine Winter (Swank) whose family’s death led her to renounce her faith. Since then, she has dedicated herself to debunking claims of “miracles” worldwide by using scientific facts. When Katherine is approached by somebody from the town of Haven, Louisiana about fears of a Biblical plague, she and fellow scientist Ben (Idris Elba) investigate. It turns out that a local boy had died in the swamplands and the people were blaming his sister, Loren McConnell, (AnnaSophia Robb) for the murder. What follows is Katherine’s quest to disprove both the townsfolk’s hatred of Loren and examination into a different kind of terror.

Swank isn’t required to do the heavy acting here like she did in her two previous Oscar-winning performances. She’s fairly straightforward as the bitter believer-turned atheist who seems bent on bumping heads with a higher power wherever she can find the opportunity. David Morrissey’s Doug character looks and sounds a lot like Liam Neeson did in films where he put on an American accent (like “Leap of Faith”). In my view, the big revelation in this film is AnnaSophia Robb. The kid has certainly shown a great deal of flexibility in her roles. From the spoiled, gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” to the heroine in “Bridge to Terabithia” to this creepy part, she has shown that Dakota Fanning and Abigail Breslin don’t have a monopoly on the best child parts in Hollywood.

As for the story itself, it isn’t so bad. But that doesn’t mean it’s great either. I mean, there are maybe one or two parts where you might get jumpy, but there isn’t an overall feeling of dread to last you throughout the film. SPOILER WARNING: Once it’s revealed that a cult of devil worshippers is behind Loren’s sudden surge in powers, I honestly felt it got a bit silly. There seemed to be such a rush to get to the end of the film that there were questions that were left unanswered. Jo and her parents were discussing those over dinner last night, and I think it’s fairly accurate to say that the ending was confusing. So was Katherine the “angel” or was it Loren? Is the child Katherine is carrying a “second child” or a first-born since her daughter Sarah had died earlier?

Like I said earlier, “The Reaping” isn’t bad, it’s just not great either. It’s okay, but if you find the desire to see something else, by all means, please do so. No plagues will fall upon you if you choose to skip this film.