When I saw the movie, I was very surprised: to clear the pastor's name, it was necessary to prove the rationality of the exorcism ritual in the film, to prove that Emily was really possessed by a demon, not a psychotic episode. In other words, the protagonist Irene wants to convince people of the existence of demons - a priest accused of manslaughter claims that people were not killed by him, but by demons. Is it possible to convince people grieved by the victim's death to believe the pastor's innocence?
In order to let the audience know that Emily was really possessed by demons, the director showed the audience the scene after Emily was haunted by demons in the memories of the witnesses in the case. After letting everyone understand the "truth", this lawsuit brought deeper doubts to the audience: How will Irene win this lawsuit?
I originally thought that Irene would win the courtroom, but in front of the scientific banner held high by the lawyers on the other side, Irene was defeated and vulnerable. The reality is like this, even if science is proven wrong, few people will believe those mysterious new things that have never been exposed to; Similarly, when people get used to and recognize the rationality of a thing, even if it is not Scientific basis, people still firmly believe such as Chinese acupuncture. Right or wrong, truth is in the hands of most people, reasonable or not, because most people believe it.
"How on earth is Irene going to win the case and set the priest free?" This question bothered me from the beginning until the detailed process of the exorcism ritual was reproduced.
As in most such films, the exorcism ritual is nothing special, so I won't bother here. But what makes me strange is that the demon in Emily calls himself the fallen angel Lucifer, who has been parasitized in the bodies of heroes of all ages, and is the "god" who controls desire. I don't know if everyone finds it strange when they see this? Since I am a fan of online novels, I read all kinds of books, among which Chinese and Western fantasy are the most, so I have a general understanding of Western myths and legends. I believe that my friends who like to read online novels are no strangers to the fallen angel Lucifer. Lucifer was an archangel before he defected from hell, and his status is second only to God, but because of his arrogance, he refused to salute to the Son of God, so he betrayed God (PS: There are many theories about the reasons for Lucifer's fall, and here is a more mainstream one.) I am ashamed of a great devil actually parasitizing the body of a young girl. But he said he was in charge of desire.
Lucifer in control of desire? I don't think a Western director will distort the myths and legends of his own country, so why would he do this?
With new questions, I re-analyzed the plot of the movie with "desire" as a clue.
First of all, the victim Emily has desire, otherwise the Lucifer in the film will be a donkey's mouth and a horse's mouth. Emily's problem came after she got into college (I don't know if you have found a detail, Emily's mother's expression was intriguing after she told her about the full scholarship), because Emily was accepted by the university. Influenced by her life, she wanted to excel in college, but because of her inferiority complex from a small town, she was relatively withdrawn in school. In the film, apart from her boyfriend, she did not explain that she had other friends, and even her roommate never showed up. . This morbid low self-esteem makes Emily's dream grow into obsession and develop into deep desire.
The second is the archbishop who has never shown up. He wants to protect his subordinates, but he wants to maintain his public image and the face of the church, so he found lawyer Irene. And Erin took over this lawsuit in order to get the position of senior partner in the law firm, so she took on this impossible task, and when the defense made no progress, she still did not listen to the advice of others, and tried her best to solve the problem. mission complete.
Everything starts with desire.
Emily is haunted by demons because of desire
Because of desire, the archbishop provoked this inexplicable lawsuit
. Because of desire, Irene took over the lawsuit; because of desire, she saw terrible things, and she was very afraid; because of desire, when finding the doctor as a witness, the devil used Erin's desire to win the case kills the doctor.
Even God has desires, it wants to use Emily to prove to people that God exists, so instead of directly expelling Lucifer, it gives Emily two choices-two choices, both are death, but can prove the existence of God.
Everything ends with desire.
The pastor has no desire—at least not in Emily's case, he just wants to tell people what happened and doesn't care what the court does against him. This can explain why Lucifer didn't kill the foreign monk who had been struggling with him. And when Erin learns that the murderer she once defended committed a truly unforgivable crime, she is lost. She accepted the pastor's request and let him finish his statement, so the signs of justice sprouted between ghosts and gods: Irene was no longer obsessed with winning the case, she let go of her obsession. In the end, the jury's unexpected trial result on the pastor made Eileen Jian discover that: maybe the black and white paint exchanged for conscience can paint a natural appearance for all causes and effects, but this layer of hypocrisy will eventually fade.
In the end, the pastor was free. Not because of the lawyer's eloquence, not because of the archbishop's long sleeves and dance, but because he has a real heart - everyone has a truth in the heart.
In the end, Erin was also redeemed. She tells the priest at the end that she's not sure if she's actually seen something supernatural because at this point she's free from desire. Perhaps this is what the movie's title really means - to drive away the demons in your heart.
In the last scene of the movie, Irene turns the alarm clock back to the front, as if to tell us: facing the truth is justice.
PS: The virgin review is slightly procrastinated, please bear with me.
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