'The Reaping' Movie Review: Miracles, Facts, and Faith

"The Reaping" utilizes the biblical events from thousands of years ago and comes up with a contemporary story where a series of bizarre occurrences are believed to be a repetition of the ten biblical plagues. This supernatural thriller clearly has religious undertones. It tries to make certain critical statements on the issues of miracles and science.

Other Movie Reviews from 2010 Archive:
Action, Horror, Supernatural, and Suspense Films

"The Reaping" is not a film to top the list in this kind of genre, but it delivers something that seems a little new and acceptable. The thrill and suspense factor may not be the most striking you could ever see on the big screen, but still, the film's treatment can generally keep you up on the watch for what's next.

The film's plot and characterization are very basic. 'The Reaping' follows the life of a former Christian missionary Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank) who has turned into a "miracle debunker" after suffering from the tragic death of her family. She becomes an expert in disproving religious phenomena by providing scientific explanations to any allegedly miraculous events. She seeks answers by making scientific investigations than merely yielding to religious signs and praying. She has enough conviction to keep disproving religious phenomena amidst such bizarre and hard to explain occurrences.

Since the death of her husband and daughter, Katherine mainly allots her time for her career. As a university professor who firmly doesn't believe in miracles, she only believes in facts and she always seeks for scientific answers. She is renowned in her field that she usually gets called for to sites around the world to investigate weeping statues, wall stains resembling saintly images, and dead bodies producing allegedly miracle oils. So far, there's been no divine mystery that she hasn't provided a scientific explanation for -- not until she investigates a town in Louisiana called Haven.

As days pass, she experiences things she could hardly explain by scientific means. Katherine is caught up bargaining on her lost faith and combating the dark forces threatening the townspeople. From checking a blood-filled river to witnessing the attack of millions of locusts in the presence of a creepy young girl named Loren McConnell (AnnaSophia Robb), the biblical plagues reoccur one after another. She gets compassion for the enigmatic child and she thinks she can help her. The more she is drawn into the mystery behind the unexplainable incidents, the more she actually discovers her role in a conspiracy getting more and more serious.

Swank generally delivers for the character she portrays. From Katherine's use of reason, to her use of instincts, Swank's performance makes the story workable. She brings up things that are not always what they seem to be. She validates her getting more open to various possibilities which slightly helps in covering up the twist of the story so most won't get to see it directly coming. The harbinger of evil Loren played by Robb works very well, too. She exudes the needed creeps with her eye contact in her every scene - as if she is really bringing wrath every time.

Looks like this young actress is developing into a very versatile performer at her early age... More than her pretty face, she gets to play a bitchy character like Violet Beauregarde for "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," the lead for the "Bridge to Terabithia," and for this film, a creepy girl bringing plagues to her hometown. The way Idris Elba presents his character as Ben, a firm believer of God amidst his profession of seeking scientific answers to alleged miraculous events (Katherine's good partner), adds another layer to the film's mainstream treatment. Stephen Rea as Father Costigan gives a decent performance to make the story work -- but his scenes keeps reminding me of the film version of "The Da Vinci Code."

David Morrissey as Katherine's love interest Doug seems too transparent in the way he is brought up on the screen that even watching the early part of it makes the audience generally think he is already hiding something and things might just boomerang on his end later on.

"The Reaping" presents that thin line between faith and superstition. Though very common and very mainstream in its plot devices, most of the film's elements (within its intended level), generally work for the story. Director Stephen Hopkins weaves a trippy and hallucinatory effect in between the supernatural aspects of the film. The Dolby Digital Sound contributes to the suspense -- making the audience appreciate the bizarre occurrences in the story more. The twist is not too surprising in its fashion, but it pays being able to present a series of workable elements and religious insights effectively for such a fictional story.