The Reaping (2007)

A former Christian missionary, who specializes in debunking religious phenomena, investigates a small town which seems to be suffering from the 10 biblical plagues.

Director:

Stephen Hopkins

Writers:

Carey Hayes (screenplay), Chad Hayes (screenplay),

Stars:

Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, Idris Elba

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hilary Swank	...	Katherine
David Morrissey	...	Doug
Idris Elba	...	Ben
AnnaSophia Robb	...	Loren McConnell
Stephen Rea	...	Father Costigan
William Ragsdale	...	Sheriff Cade
John McConnell	...	Mayor Brooks
David Jensen	...	Jim Wakeman
Yvonne Landry	...	Brynn Wakeman
Samuel Garland	...	William Wakeman
Myles Cleveland	...	Kyle Wakeman
Andrea Frankle	...	Maddie McConnell
Mark Lynch	...	Brody McConnell
Stuart Greer	...	Gordon
Lara Grice	...	Isabelle

Storyline

The death of a child in mysterious circumstances sparks a series of events that seem to represent biblical plagues, which start occurring in, of all places, a town called "Haven" that is located deep in the bowels of Bible belt country in the bayous of Louisiana. A former Christian missionary turned religious phenomena debunker and her top open minded student turned personnel assistant are sent to investigate.

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Plot Keywords:

biblical plague | plague | missionary | louisiana | small town | 

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Taglines:

Himmel Eller Helvete - God Eller Ond - Nå Eller Aldri (Heaven or Hell - Good or Evil - Now or Never) [Norway]

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, disturbing images and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [Germany] Warner Bros. [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

5 April 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Prueba de fe

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£310,591 (UK) (20 April 2007)

Gross:

$25,117,498 (USA) (1 June 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Dark Castle Entertainment, Chime Productions LLC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While Katherine and Ben are at Doug's house the first night for dinner, Katherine drinks "Purple Haze" beer.

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Goofs

Katherine's missing bracelet appears on her wrist when she goes inside Lorens house, despite being lost at the dam.

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Quotes

Ben: [after Katherine wakes up] Morning. Sleep at all last night?
Katherine Winter: Yeah. Where are we?
Ben: Far enough that all I'm getting is this guy.
[tunes the radio and a song plays that's apparently supposed to be crummy]

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Crazy Credits

Dark Castle Entertainment opens differently than before; with clouds blowing past to reveal the logo before being obscured by the cloud-cover once again

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 7 April 2007 (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Body Move"
Written by Winston Forster and Henry "Jungo" Lawes
Performed by Yellowman
Courtesy of Greensleeves Records Ltd.
By Arrangement with Fine Gold Productions LLC

User Reviews

The script wasted Hilary Swank's talents

(My Synopsis) Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank) is a college professor at LSU who doesn't believe in miracles and goes around the world debunking them. She lost her faith when her daughter and husband were killed in Sudan when she was a newly ordained minister on her first mission. Whenever Katherine is called to investigate a miracle, she is able to prove that what people believe is a miracle can be explained using scientific facts and no divine intervention has occurred. Her next case is in her own backyard in Haven, Louisiana. Doug Blackwell (David Morrissey), a schoolteacher, is asking for Katherine's help. The river has turned to blood, and the townspeople believe that Loren McConnell (AnnaSophia Robb), a young 12-year old girl, has brought this plague upon the town. They also believe that this is the start of the Biblical ten plagues that are about to occur in Haven. Katherine and Ben (Idris Elba), her partner, go to Haven to investigate. At first Katherine is able to explain all the strange occurrences with science, but she soon comes to the realization that science can't explain all of them away. Katherine must reclaim her faith to fight these evil forces.

(My Comment) The storyline is a simple story about a woman who has lost her faith and meets it head-on by regaining her faith to fight an evil cult. From the previews you would think that this supernatural thriller would be scary, but you would be wrong. For the first 20-minutes, you are absorbed in the movie, and then the pace slows down to a crawl, then builds up to a spectacular ending. The CG special effects of the ten plagues were visually interesting, but that is about all there was. The movie did not lure me in and scare me as I thought it would. The worst thing was that they wasted Hilary Swank's talents in this movie. I think the writers probably came up with an ending at the last minute, because there wasn't must thought that went into it. I can't believe the writers even set it up for a sequel. (Warner Bros. Pictures, Run time 1:36, Rated R)(3/10)