Tea at Trianon: Two New Films About the Devil

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Two New Films About the Devil

From Religion Unplugged:

Just this past weekend, two demon possession movies hit theaters: “The Pope’s Exorcist,” a Hollywood exorcism film starring Russel Crowe, and “Nefarious,” an indie faith-based film written and directed by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, the team behind “God’s Not Dead” and “Unplanned.”
I would have never guessed that, of these two movies, the one made by the creators of “God’s Not Dead” would be better — yet that’s exactly the case. “The Pope’s Exorcist” is based loosely (emphasis on loosely) on the writings of Father Gabrielle Amorth, chief exorcist to the Vatican until his death in 2016. The story follows Russel Crowe as the titular exorcist as he investigates a child possession that leads him to the discovery of a centuries-long cover up by the Vatican with world-ending implications.
“The Pope’s Exorcist” is fun, at times, and Crowe’s Father Amorth is easily the highlight. He plays the real-life priest with a grounded playfulness that makes him a delight to watch whenever he’s onscreen. And who doesn’t like watching exorcists fight demons? But the problem with the movie is that it really doesn’t commit to saying or being anything. It’s almost exclusively half-hearted Hollywood exorcism tropes, none of which are explored aesthetically or thematically beyond the surface. They explain the rules of the world — how to get rid of demons and how not to surrender to Satan — which are broken too easily to service the plot. The movie can’t decide if it wants to be serious or campy and fun, so it becomes neither.
Basically, it’s everything people dislike about Hollywood: It has nothing to say and all the money to say it.
“Nefarious,” on the other hand, has something to say, and it leans into it with the force of a sledgehammer.
“Nefarious” tells the story of a psychiatrist brought to a prison to evaluate a death-row inmate because the warden thinks he’s faking his insanity plea. When the inmate claims to the psychiatrist that he’s a demon, an intense cat-and-mouse game begins between the two.
The strength of Christian films, like most indie films, has always been that they actually have a point to make. Christian films always have a “message,” typically a message that is at least somewhat countercultural: Christians should stand for their faith against cultural pressure, abortion is wrong, prayer works and other tenets of Christian belief.
The movie is full of points it wants to make. It makes fun of progressive pastors who deny demons. It rejects the notion that the world is getting better (something I ironically enjoyed). It condemns abortion and euthanasia. It does all of these things in the strongest possible terms. Above all, it shows that the greatest danger is pretending that evil things aren’t evil. Often, in faith-based films, the message is conveyed poorly. The dialogue is cheesy and preachy, and characters don’t ring true to real life. Ironically, the team behind “Nefarious” has often been guilty of this very thing. I consider “God’s Not Dead” and “Unplanned” to be two of the worst-written Christian films I’ve ever seen. So how did they do such a good job this time?
The ingenious secret weapon of this movie’s dialogue is its heavy dose of snark. Nearly every line is flavored to the max with the sarcasm between characters, driven by their mild to utter contempt for each other. Whether it’s the psychiatrist and the demon/inmate in their verbal chess match or the warden and the psychiatrist tolerating each other as they both just try to do their jobs, the dialogue is witty and sharp to the end.
The warden doesn’t give the psychiatrist plot exposition, he grumbles it. The demon doesn’t preach his opinion about humanity, he sneers it — and the psychiatrist sneers back his objections. This means that even when the dialogue is transparently preachy (which, given the creators, is frankly most of it) it’s still wildly entertaining. (Read more.)

From John Zmirak at The Stream:

I’m gobsmacked and thrilled to report that a movie of this quality is opening this weekend, Nefarious, based on the novel by conservative TV commentator and author Steve Deace of The Blaze. I heard about it from Eric Metaxas, who’d seen the preview screener and highly recommended it. I sat with a friend to watch it, and we were riveted. Imagine the insights of The Screwtape Letters conveyed with all the intensity of top-notch courtroom drama like To Kill a Mockingbird. Or the “Grand Inquisitor” scene from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, set on death row in a U.S. “red state.”

I don’t want to give away too much, and drain the film of its power to surprise, unsettle, and challenge. Suffice it to say that it’s an intense, occasionally violent psychological thriller of a similar genre to The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The story is simple: a smug secular psychologist goes to evaluate a serial killer on the verge of execution … to see if he’s lucid enough to undergo capital punishment (as our law requires). But the killer insists he’s possessed by a demon. Is that proof he’s really insane? (Read more.)

From Crisis:

Producers Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon were the locomotives behind the movie Unplanned, the Abby Johnson story of leaving Planned Parenthood and finding redemption. That movie had every chance of not happening, but it did. Konzelman and Solomon are lifelong friends, and each had an extended career in big-studio screenwriting before they decided to put their talents at the Lord’s service. They have been tempered in the forge.

As much as I admired Unplanned, the movie Nefarious goes far beyond it in originality, casting, and that quality of storytelling that grabs you from the beginning and shakes you mercilessly for two hours (99 minutes, to be exact) without respite; let’s call it relentless. As difficult as it was to watch in parts, I could not detach, couldn’t close my eyes or ears. It had me. (Read more.)

Lefties HATE Nefarious so that speaks well for it. From GameRant:

Christian folks looking for a little bit of messiah at the multiplex are spoiled for choice at the moment. Stop on by for His Only Son to see a modestly budgeted, but incredibly well-received adaptation of the tale of Abraham and Isaac. Those looking for something a bit lighter could check out Jesus Revolution, which tells the true story of a pastor's discovery of a new movement within the faith. Or, if they want something spooky, they should check out Nefarious, a demon possession film that's scared to admit that it's Christian. (Read more.)