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Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this ominous, religious-themed thriller has lots of violent scenes, many involving children. Images include a river of blood, dead fish and frogs (some beset by maggots and flies), dead children's bodies and bones, a rape scene (cut into close ups and made confusing because the victim is drugged), the ritual sacrifice of children, scary shadows in creaky houses, faces covered with oozy boils, bloody walls and floors, a mural of a lynching, suicide, locusts attacking men, and flames shooting from the sky. Characters discuss faith and skepticism, and there's a little bit of drinking and some swearing (including at least one "f--k").
Families can talk about how the film uses scary "religious" imagery. In general, what messages does the movie send about faith and religion? Can you think of other horror movies that deal with religious issues? Why do the two often go hand in hand? Families can also discuss how the movie simplifies the split between religious faith and science (for instance, in the explanation of miracles).
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
Early in the silly biblical thriller THE REAPING, Ben (Idris Elba) reveals that he was once a street thug, shot by rivals and sent to prison. Now, he's a churchgoing man, as well as field and research assistant to miracle-debunking professor Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank). Thus Ben embodies the movie's supposed argument between Christian belief and skepticism: Loyal to Katherine's scientific project, he's also a believer who can recognize when they're "witnessing biblical events."
Which appears to happen in Haven, La., a small, hurricane-ravaged town where Katherine has been summoned to explain a river of blood. As she and Ben take samples of the river, dead fish, and frogs that fall from the sky, Katherine starts having flashbacks to her time as a missionary in Sudan, where she lost her husband and daughter to locals who believed that the white folks caused their drought and famine.
Katherine's personal travails intersect too neatly with her current investigation, and though she's obviously very bright and rational, she gives way to righteous fearfulness as events in Haven turn increasingly strange, violent, and inexplicable. Her guide to the town's history, schoolteacher Doug (David Morrissey), also reveals the locals' theory of who's responsible -- namely, a cute little girl named Loren (AnnaSophia Robb). Loren's older brother turned up dead in the bloody river, her house is full of "ancient" symbols, and her backwoodsy mom all but asks Katherine to kill her "baby girl."
As Katherine's intrigue with Loren develops, the older woman misses or ignores Ben's suggestions that they leave town now. The more that Katherine tries to figure out the signs, the more distanced she becomes from her best friend/loyal colleague, figuratively and literally (split up when swarms of locusts attack, they're limited to speaking through walkie talkies). Ben is, in fact, the most sensible reader of signs from the start (he looks worried when he sees a mural that depicts a lynching, while Katherine seems to miss it). As Ben both understands the biblical source material and maintains just enough skepticism, he's not seduced, like Katherine. If only he was the star of this movie.
Viewers who can't get enough religious-themed horror movies might also like Stigmata (starring a very good Patricia Arquette), The Ninth Gate, The Exorcist, and Rosemary's Baby.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentKatherine wears tight tops; during a nightmarish, fragmented rape scene, sweaty body parts and her face appear in close-up. |
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ViolenceSeveral jump scenes in dark places; flashback scenes show sweaty, delirious poisoned Chilean villagers as well as angry Sudanese villagers dying of starvation and attacking white missionaries; images of dead fish and frogs in a river of blood and flies and maggots on fish; a dead boy's body (desiccated and creepy) appears several times; deranged cows attack a truck; scary point-of-view explorations of a dark house, a basement, and the woods; a nightmarish rape scene is intercut with a painful flashback; a scary "African" figure appears behind or near Katherine a few times; a woman commits suicide with handgun (off screen, though her body falls in the next shot); men are attacked by a swarm of locusts; discovery of skulls, bones, and bodies in a crypt; flames from the sky; a child is tied to table and threatened with ritual sacrifice (she screams); people with guns and knives threaten a young girl; a man grabs a woman and threatens her with a knife as they are swirled up in flames. |
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LanguageAt least one use of "f--k," plus other language ("s--t," "damn," etc.). |
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Social BehaviorA former missionary rediscovers her faith via signs from the devil -- a route that involves multiple deaths, a cult that sacrifices children, rape, and suicide. |
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CommercialismMac PowerBook. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoBeer drinking, homebrew drinking (which leads to Katherine's seeming hallucination), character carries a cigar. |
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