![]() ![]() While many (if not most) of the actors are pretty wooden, Joseph Marcell embraces the film’s spirit with gumption. The film picks up once Father Michael arrives as the somber tone is injected with more comedy. Here, he enlists an old friend, Father Michael Lewis (a delightful Joseph Marcell), as he doesn’t trust himself to perform the deed on his own. Father Peter, reluctantly, believes she needs an exorcism. A mysterious possessed woman, Silvia (Raquel Rojas) seems to be the source of the unknown illness plaguing the town. ![]() The nightmares become more intense as Father Peter is gripped with more and more doubt. At night, he’s haunted by terrible visions, including a sunken and bruised Jesus, who terrorizes his nightmares. He fears that the devil that possessed him that night might still be percolating in his subconscious mind. Rather solemn and humorless, Father Peter Williams goes above and beyond to undo his sin. The film’s gothic and inky black and white cinematography lead us away from naturalist framing as the true, terrible events of that first night are slowly peeled back, revealing an unforgivable crime. There’s no doubt from the opening of this earnest film from director/co-writer Alejandro Hidalgo that we’re operating within the realm of high stakes melodrama. As a demonic sickness spreads through the village, claiming the lives of young children, he’s drawn back into the realm of devils and demons. ![]() He harbors a dark shadow, and the exorcism that built his reputation haunts him. The Vatican treats him as a shining star, the future of the Church. His flock considers him saintly, perhaps even magical. After this pivotal scene, the movie flashes forward 18 years later, and Father Peter Williams still lives in Mexico where he continues his humanitarian work. ![]()
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