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Become the Critic Steven A. Tijerina Humanities 176 May 15, Gregory Lynch

While there is no way to prove the existence of God or the Devil, demonic possession is an experience that brings up questions of faith in terms of what the individual believes or disbelieves.

Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter) was a normal 19-year-old possessed by seven separate demonic identities shortly after leaving home to attend classes at the university. One weekend when Emily is alone because her roommate has returned home, the events of the possession begin to unfold. Emily awakes to the smell of smoke only to discover there is no fire to explain what she smells. That night at three a.m. Emily awakes, but this time to a pencil container floating across the table. As Emily, watches in disbelief malevolent forces that pin her down to her mattress choking her attack her. Emily resists the demons who finally release her she begins to cry uncontrollably and runs to the payphone to call her mother for help. Emily is taken to the university hospital where she is overcome by the demons that possess her body and soul. Emily returns home however, her condition does not improve and the apparitions gradually take over her mind.

The film opens as the medical examiner approaches Emilys house to determine her cause of death. The police escort Father Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson) out of the house

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and charge him with negligent homicide. Father Moore waits incarcerated in the county jail there he meets his public defendant, Erin Bruner (Laura Linney). Bruner is agnostic and rather than refuting the prosecutions medical theory, she looks to validate the alternative demonic possession. Father Moore warns Erin that her involvement in the trail may open her up to demonic attacks, but she dismisses his advice and tells him that she has enough to worry about with the prosecutions attacks. Bruner is reluctant to admit that demons may exist but when she goes for a walk and finds an engraved gold locket with her initials on it she has a change of heart. Bruner catches a break when Dr. Graham Cartwright (Duncan Fraser), who attended the exorcism, agrees to testify to what he saw. When Erin meets him for the second time, he admits to her that he knows that demons exist before meeting his demise.

Bruner agrees to let Father Moore testify because she believes the jury will find him to be a credible witness. Father Moore is not concerned about going to jail rather his only concern is to share Emilys story with the court. At this point Bruner presents to the court an audio recording of the failed exorcism given to her by Dr. Cartwright. Bruner losses all hope after her boss threatens to fire her if a Father Moore takes the stand again. The day after the failed exorcism Emily tells her mother to call Father Moore so that she can give him a letter. In the letter, Emily reveals that she heard the voice of the Blessed Virgin calling her. She walks into an open field where she asks the Virgin Mary why wont the demons leave my body? Mary replies Heaven is not blind to your pain; the demons will stay where they are, you can choose to stay here and continue this, or you can go with me free of your bodily form. Emily chooses to stay because Mary reveals, that many will

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come to know that the spiritual realm is real. Upon the jury, reaching a verdict of guilty Father Moore receives a sentence of time served. After the trail Father Moore finds, he can never return to his parish choosing seclusion instead.

The subject matter leaves for the audience to decide if demonic possession is genuine or not and it makes people wonder what if? It brings up questions of faith, mysticism, religion, exorcisms, sainthood, the Church, and the final triumph of good over evil. The prosecution would have the jurors believe that spirits and demons do not exist, and they have no place in the courtroom. Rather than seeing the Devil for whom he is, a medical explanation is the only explanation even if it is a misdiagnosis. The film presents characters with different religious backgrounds therefor broadening the connection for a much wider audience. Erin is the agnostic, Father Moore is the unwavering believer, and Ethan Thomas (the prosecutor) is the devout Methodist whose job is to prove the states case despite his own personal feelings or involvement.