Movie Details
Starring
Genre
More details

Exorcist: The Beginning (R, 2004)

common sense media says

Brutal. Not for kids.


parents & educators say
  • 33% say violence is an issue

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that from the opening scene of bloody bodies stabbed and crucified across Kenyan soil, viewers are in for a brutal blood bath. Know that there is very graphic violence including a child being mauled by hyenas, a dead baby covered in maggots and someone slitting his throat.

Positive messages: Characters are racist and misogynist -- and the film shows more vivid violence against Africans.
Violence: Sickening graphic scenes including hyenas mauling a small child and baby born dead and covered in maggots.
Sex: The beautiful doctor faces harassment, and sex and violence mix in the final showdown.
Language: Not too terrible until the very end when a possessed character spews a number of profanities at once.
Consumerism: Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: There's some heavy drinking.

More on Exorcist: The Beginning

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about violence in horror films. How much is necessary, and how much should be left to the imagination? Are films with more guts and gore scarier than more subtle films?

What's the story?

What's the story?

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.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

A contrived plot, lame CGI effects and needless, over-the-top gore make EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING an unbearable movie to watch. Flashbacks to Merrin's past are heavy-handed (for example, a slow-motion cut of a little girl dropping her toy puppy in the snow when she comes across a dead body) -- and using the horror of the Holocaust here seems offensive.

The final showdown has a nice head-turning homage to the famous first film (though the effects look fake), and there are some interesting plot points (a young priest tells Merrin that the Vatican suspects the dig site is where Lucifer fell to Earth after being thrown from Heaven). But ultimately viewers will be disappointed that any compelling details are buried by the film's focus on cheap jumps and blood baths.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: Warner Bros.
Director: Renny Harlin
Cast: James D'Arcy, Remy Sweeney
Genre: Horror
Run time: 90 minutes
Theatrical release: August 19, 2004
DVD release: March 1, 2005
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: strong violence and gore, disturbing images and rituals, and for language

This review was written by Common Sense Media Editors
 
 

Review It

 

Review Exorcist: The Beginning





Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.
 

What parents & educators say

14
Based on 3 parent & educator reviews:
  • 33% say violence is an issue

Most useful reviews by all members

Jbobsession11
teen, 13 years old
 
good
I liked the movie but it kinda scared me at one point and i saw it on tv so it probably wasn't as bad as the real movie but it was creepy so little children would have nightmares.

Plague
parent
 
Exorcist: The Beginning
Not a bad movie at all really. Not as good as the older ones of course, but still worth watching.

@@@
parent
 
Nothing good to say.
None of the films in the Exorcist series are good. I did not find a single moment in any of the films scary, but this...it just pushes the word "unbearable" to the brink. It really is not strong enough word to describe this terrible, terrible film. It is a disaster that deserves no praise from anybody. 1 star is very generous, and it is a great pity that Common Sense Media does not allow you to give out zero star ratings. The script is lazy and childish, so bad that the Devil himself must have written it to punish us, and the immense amount of gore does not make the film any more entertaining. God, it's awful. By the time you're halfway through this film, you'll wish you were in hell. It's better to be there than on Earth watching this.

CSM Screen ...
teen, 14 years old
 
boo
I did not like it at all!

An independent voice for families
Age-appropriate reviews
 

vote now

Will you see Exorcist: The Beginning?


Already seen it? What do you think?

 

Great alternatives handpicked by our editors


About our rating system
ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child, some content may not be right for some kids
OFF: Not age appropriate for kids this age