The Rapture (film)
Encyclopedia
The Rapture is a 1991
psychological/religious drama film
starring Mimi Rogers
, David Duchovny
, Darwyn Carson, Patrick Bauchau
, Marvin Elkins, Will Patton
, and Stephanie Menuez; directed by Michael Tolkin
; rated R; 100 minutes long; and produced by New Line Cinema
.
woman who engages in a swinging
, libidinous lifestyle with her male partner. She comes into contact with a sect
that advises her that a true Rapture
is imminent. In time, she comes to accept this belief herself and becomes a born-again Christian. She begins a new, pious lifestyle, eventually marrying and having a daughter. When her husband Randy (Duchovny) is killed in a senseless murder
, however, she begins to question the benevolence of God
. She believes she must wait in the desert
for the coming of the Rapture but eventually loses patience. At her daughter's urging, she decides to hasten her and her daughter's ascendance to heaven. She kills her daughter with a gunshot, but is unable to take her own life afterwards, afraid she'll be condemned as a suicide
. She confesses to what she had done to a police officer who had been watching her and is arrested and imprisoned.
Until this point, the film appears to be a story about a born-again cultist whose beliefs eventually lead to murder
, but, in a twist ending, the Rapture does indeed arrive. While Sharon is sitting in her prison cell, awaiting trial, a loud trumpet blows that is heard all over the world, signaling the start of the Rapture. After Sharon disappears and is taken to a purgatory
-like landscape, she still refuses to renounce her anger at God for His cruelty
. Her young daughter begs her to accept God back into her heart so she can join her husband and daughter in Heaven, but Sharon declines, preferring to remain in the purgatory-like landscape for eternity
.
1991 in film
The year 1991 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*April 28 - Bonnie Raitt marries actor Michael O'Keefe in New York* Terminator 2: Judgment Day, became one of the landmarks for science fiction action films with its groundbreaking visual effects from Industrial Light & Magic.*November...
psychological/religious drama film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring Mimi Rogers
Mimi Rogers
Mimi Rogers is an American movie actress and competitive poker player.-Early life:Rogers was born Miriam Spickler in Coral Gables, Florida, the daughter of Philip C...
, David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
, Darwyn Carson, Patrick Bauchau
Patrick Bauchau
Patrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau is a Belgian actor.-Early life:Bauchau was born in Brussels, the son of Mary , a Russian-born school administrator and publisher, and Henry Bauchau, a school administrator, publisher, writer, and psychoanalyst who served as an officer in the Belgian...
, Marvin Elkins, Will Patton
Will Patton
William Rankin "Will" Patton is an American actor.-Life and career:Patton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest of three children. His father is Bill Patton, a playwright and acting/directing instructor who was a Lutheran minister and served as a chaplain at Duke University...
, and Stephanie Menuez; directed by Michael Tolkin
Michael Tolkin
Michael L. Tolkin is an American filmmaker and novelist. He has written numerous screenplays, including The Player , which he adapted from his 1988 book by the same name, and for which he received the 1993 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay...
; rated R; 100 minutes long; and produced by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
.
Cast
- Mimi RogersMimi RogersMimi Rogers is an American movie actress and competitive poker player.-Early life:Rogers was born Miriam Spickler in Coral Gables, Florida, the daughter of Philip C...
... Sharon - David DuchovnyDavid DuchovnyDavid William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
... Randy - Darwyn Carson... Maggie
- Patrick BauchauPatrick BauchauPatrick Nicolas Jean Sixte Ghislain Bauchau is a Belgian actor.-Early life:Bauchau was born in Brussels, the son of Mary , a Russian-born school administrator and publisher, and Henry Bauchau, a school administrator, publisher, writer, and psychoanalyst who served as an officer in the Belgian...
... Vic - Will PattonWill PattonWilliam Rankin "Will" Patton is an American actor.-Life and career:Patton was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the eldest of three children. His father is Bill Patton, a playwright and acting/directing instructor who was a Lutheran minister and served as a chaplain at Duke University...
... Deputy Foster - Stephanie Menuez... Diana
- Marvin Elkins... Bartender
Plot summary
The film tells the story of Sharon (Rogers), a young Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
woman who engages in a swinging
Swinging
Swinging or partner swapping is a non-monogamous behavior, in which both partners in a committed relationship agree, as a couple, for both partners to engage in sexual activities with other couples as a recreational or social activity...
, libidinous lifestyle with her male partner. She comes into contact with a sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
that advises her that a true Rapture
Rapture
The rapture is a reference to the "being caught up" referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, when the "dead in Christ" and "we who are alive and remain" will be caught up in the clouds to meet "the Lord"....
is imminent. In time, she comes to accept this belief herself and becomes a born-again Christian. She begins a new, pious lifestyle, eventually marrying and having a daughter. When her husband Randy (Duchovny) is killed in a senseless murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, however, she begins to question the benevolence of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. She believes she must wait in the desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
for the coming of the Rapture but eventually loses patience. At her daughter's urging, she decides to hasten her and her daughter's ascendance to heaven. She kills her daughter with a gunshot, but is unable to take her own life afterwards, afraid she'll be condemned as a suicide
Christian views on suicide
-Bible:There are seven suicides in the Bible, most notably in Matthew 27:3, the suicide of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, and that of Saul . In Acts of the Apostles 16:28 Paul prevents the attempted suicide of a jailor...
. She confesses to what she had done to a police officer who had been watching her and is arrested and imprisoned.
Until this point, the film appears to be a story about a born-again cultist whose beliefs eventually lead to murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, but, in a twist ending, the Rapture does indeed arrive. While Sharon is sitting in her prison cell, awaiting trial, a loud trumpet blows that is heard all over the world, signaling the start of the Rapture. After Sharon disappears and is taken to a purgatory
Purgatory
Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...
-like landscape, she still refuses to renounce her anger at God for His cruelty
Cruelty
Cruelty can be described as indifference to suffering, and even positive pleasure in inflicting it. If this is supported by a legal or social framework, then receives the name of perversion. Sadism can also be related to this form of action or concept....
. Her young daughter begs her to accept God back into her heart so she can join her husband and daughter in Heaven, but Sharon declines, preferring to remain in the purgatory-like landscape for eternity
Eternity
While in the popular mind, eternity often simply means existence for a limitless amount of time, many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether outside time. By contrast, infinite temporal existence is then called sempiternity. Something eternal exists outside time; by contrast,...
.