I don't quite understand how this movie got such a low rating. It is a decent end-of-time movie, not a possession film.
While I was watching, I was thinking that it should have a 5 to 6 IMDb star rating, but I thought maybe the ending would ruin the film just like so many other horror movies. The ending is quite good. Normally, I don't like endings that do not finish the story. So many horror films leave business unfinished so there will be an opportunity for sequels. This film could have a sequel but does not require one. The story is about the beginning of the end. If there were to be a sequel, it would have to be epic, a very different sort of film. Try "Lord of the Rings" epic. If not, then it should not be made at all.
As I said before, it is not a possession movie. There may be an attempt to exorcise a demon, but if one pays attention, it is very clear why the exorcism does not work. Exorcism aims to remove a demon from the human host. It does not work if there is no demon to remove.
There are many things that could be explained better, such as when the cardinal realizes he was not dealing with a run of the mill demon and when he realizes his attempt to get rid of it only serves to promote its progress. The parody of Christ's birth, death and resurrection is too subtle and needed to be more developed. We saw the cardinal's face. We know he realizes something, but most of us who are watching won't know what and won't know why he change his tactics, which turned out to be another mistake and confirmed what he already suspected, that there was no possession to be exorcised.
This is not a movie about the final battle between good and evil. It's about the fight before the ultimate battle, a fight that the forces of good lose.
While I was watching, I was thinking that it should have a 5 to 6 IMDb star rating, but I thought maybe the ending would ruin the film just like so many other horror movies. The ending is quite good. Normally, I don't like endings that do not finish the story. So many horror films leave business unfinished so there will be an opportunity for sequels. This film could have a sequel but does not require one. The story is about the beginning of the end. If there were to be a sequel, it would have to be epic, a very different sort of film. Try "Lord of the Rings" epic. If not, then it should not be made at all.
As I said before, it is not a possession movie. There may be an attempt to exorcise a demon, but if one pays attention, it is very clear why the exorcism does not work. Exorcism aims to remove a demon from the human host. It does not work if there is no demon to remove.
There are many things that could be explained better, such as when the cardinal realizes he was not dealing with a run of the mill demon and when he realizes his attempt to get rid of it only serves to promote its progress. The parody of Christ's birth, death and resurrection is too subtle and needed to be more developed. We saw the cardinal's face. We know he realizes something, but most of us who are watching won't know what and won't know why he change his tactics, which turned out to be another mistake and confirmed what he already suspected, that there was no possession to be exorcised.
This is not a movie about the final battle between good and evil. It's about the fight before the ultimate battle, a fight that the forces of good lose.