In this prequel to the classic The Exorcist, it's just after World War II, and Devil-fighter Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard) has left the priesthood a broken man. Because of his archeological expertise -- and lack of moral center -- he is approached to steal a Devilish-artifact from a dig in Africa, where a church is being excavated. When he arrives, the trouble has already begun: local workers have disappeared, the lead archeologist has gone insane, and hyenas stalk the site even in the daytime. The horror only accelerates, especially for the Africans: A child is mauled to death by the hyenas, a baby is born dead and covered with maggots, and, at the insane asylum, the former boss slowly -- and graphically -- slits his own throat. Merrin has his own demons: he'd been forced to make an impossible choice at the hands of the Nazis. Meanwhile, tensions mount between the native people and the bullying British army. And a young child is blamed for the trouble -- but is he really the one possessed? Our hero will ultimately have to decide that the Devil is really at work -- and figure out where he's at work -- before he takes back the cloth in order to fight him.