The Order (2003)

The Order (2003), also known as The Sin Eater, is an American film directed by Brian Helgeland, released in 2003. It was poorly received by critics and failed at the box office.

In French, it’s called ‘Le Purificateur,’ which means The Purifier.

I’m watching a lot of films with Shannyn Sossamon, and I notice that her films almost always have something in common: they’re often entertaining, but clearly not necessary for our DVD library!

I take Catacombs (2007) and The Day (2011) as examples. Sinister 2 (2015) is even worse!

That said, I still adore this actress. But it’s a shame…

She and Heath Ledger were already together in another film.

In fact, Helgeland directed Ledger, Mark Addy, and Sossamon in the 2001 film A Knight’s Tale.

This film is not good.

It does, however, have some pretty funny moments of dialogue such as:

‘-You say she shot you during an exercise?
-No, an exorcism.’

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‘In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Satan, go away!
-Nice welcome! By the way, what are you doing?
-I’m hunting two demons who are disguised as children. It’s quite ordinary, really…’

Well… you have to be in the right frame of mind; otherwise, you might find it ridiculous, indeed!

There is an almost total absence of emotion in this film. No suspense, no disgust, no anguish, no sadness, no beauty. The film is totally bland, and the actors all look like they’ve been shot up on morphine, acting so half-heartedly and implausibly. The dialogue isn’t bad in itself.

It’s just surprising to see Heath like this, given that he was recognized as one of the best actors of his generation.

The film doesn’t really have a story. The priest investigates the death of his friend; the resolution isn’t very long, but the director wants to explain all his crazy scenarios to us, so we get a tour of all the churches and sects in the Vatican, with just one little scene where things are moving so that the viewer doesn’t lose interest or fall asleep.

Basically, not really recommended!

Very good picture quality, but a rather boring story. I didn’t really like it.