Somewhat, 4 out of 10. It's an exorcism drama about a skeptic, with some jump scares.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
4 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
Low
It is gone by bedtime unless you were already nervous about things you cannot explain.
DOG
Dog: fine
fine, though a frog is not.
Ruling: Watch it in the afternoon if you like exorcisms with a lot of doubt in them.
The Rite runs one hour and fifty-four minutes, and its hero is a seminary student who lacks the faith for any of it. He goes to exorcism school in Rome anyway, because the alternative is a $100,000 student loan.
The premise, briefly
Michael Kovak, a mortician who joined the seminary for the free degree, is sent to an exorcism course in Rome and then to meet a Welsh Jesuit exorcist.
How much do you want to know?
🐱
The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
Michael performs the exorcism on Father Lucas himself and gets the demon to give its name, Baal. Lucas survives, Michael decides to become a priest, and the last scene is him hearing a girl's confession.
The scene you're dreading
In the middle, Father Lucas performs an exorcism on Rosaria in the hospital after she tries to drown herself. She miscarries, and she and the baby both die, which leaves Lucas shaken.
The dog
No dog dies in The Rite. A frog is thrown into a wood burning stove, and a cat vanishes with its fate left unknown.
The Rite is mostly an exorcism story about a doubter, and the one hard scene is in a hospital in the middle.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
A $100,000 loan is a very persuasive argument
Michael Kovak is the son of Istvan, a successful funeral home owner, and he is tired of being a mortician. He enters a seminary planning to quit before he takes his vows, which would get him a free college degree. Four years later he is ordained as a deacon and sends his superior, Father Matthew, a resignation letter that blames a lack of faith. Father Matthew chases after him on the street, trips over a curb, and causes a cyclist named Sandra to swerve into the path of a van. Badly hurt, she asks Michael for absolution, and he reluctantly gives her a blessing before she dies. Father Matthew sees how calmly he handled it and tells him he is meant to be a priest, and that the Church needs exorcists because possessions are rising every year. If Michael resigns before his vows, his scholarship could turn into a $100,000 loan, so he agrees to attend an exorcism course in Rome.
A teenager coughs up three nails and Michael stays skeptical
In Italy Michael meets Angelina, another student in the course, who is actually a reporter covering it for a newspaper. Father Xavier sees how shaky Michael's faith is and sends him to meet Father Lucas, a Welsh Jesuit exorcist. At Lucas's home Michael meets a patient, Rosaria, a pregnant sixteen-year-old whom Lucas is trying to exorcise. She coughs up three long nails and speaks fluent English, and she reminds Michael of the person he last anointed and of how much he resents his father, but he stays skeptical. Rosaria tries to drown herself and ends up in the hospital, where Lucas performs another exorcism. This is the scene people dread most, so here it is: Rosaria miscarries, the baby dies of cardiac arrest, and Rosaria dies of heavy bleeding. Lucas is devastated and feels he failed her. After that, Michael decides to confide in Angelina.
Father Xavier is in Civitavecchia, so a seminarian will have to do
After Rosaria's death Father Lucas begins acting oddly. Michael and Angelina come across him sitting in the rain outside his house, and Lucas, who knows he is possessed, asks them to bring Father Xavier to perform the exorcism. They can't reach Xavier, who is away in Civitavecchia for three days, so Michael decides to do it himself with Angelina's help. The demon taunts him through a long fight, until Michael recovers his lost faith and makes the demon give its name, Baal. He says he believes the demon exists and believes in an all-powerful God, and the demon leaves Lucas. Michael says goodbye to Lucas and returns to the United States.
The ending, explained
Michael finishes the exorcism, and the demon Baal leaves Father Lucas, who survives. Michael returns to the United States and decides to become a priest after all. He then receives a letter saying Angelina has published her article about the exorcism. As Father Michael, he enters a confessional in his church to hear a girl's confession. Rosaria and her baby are dead, and so is Sandra, the cyclist from the opening.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether The Rite has a scene after the credits.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, though a frog is not.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Rite scary?
Somewhat. The Rite is a 4 out of 10 with low dread: an exorcism story about a skeptic, with some jump scares and one hard hospital scene in the middle.
How does The Rite end?
Michael performs the exorcism on Father Lucas and forces the demon Baal to give its name. Lucas survives, and Michael decides to become a priest and hears a girl's confession in the last scene of The Rite.
Does the dog die in The Rite?
No dog dies in The Rite. A frog is thrown into a wood burning stove, and a cat vanishes with its fate left unknown.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Rite?
Nobody has confirmed whether The Rite has a scene after the credits.
Who is Baal in The Rite?
Baal is the demon possessing Father Lucas at the end of The Rite. Michael forces it to say its name during the exorcism, and it leaves Lucas after Michael says he believes in God.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of The Rite is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
The Rite runs one hour and fifty-four minutes, and you can skip every exorcism in it. Install Scaredy Cat and it blurs horror before you see it.
