The Reaping
Encyclopedia
The Reaping is an 2007 American horror film
, starring Hilary Swank
. The film was directed by Stephen Hopkins
for Warner Bros.
and Dark Castle Entertainment
. The music for the film was scored by John Frizzell
.
) puts together several photos that have been burned to form a pattern of an upside down sickle with a cross through it. The symbol is the inverted astrological symbol for Ceres
, which is believed to be Satanic.
Elsewhere, Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank
) and her colleague, Ben (Idris Elba
), are in Chile
investigating claims of a miracle. Upon exploring the area, Katherine uncovers a cache of hazardous waste illegally stashed in an underground oil well, which has ruptured, causing the biological effects of the "miracle". In Louisiana, Katherine receives a call from Costigan, who explains the symbol, telling her that it is a warning from God, which Katherine ignores. Later, Doug Blackwell (David Morrissey
), a science teacher from a nearby town called Haven, asks Katherine to help figure out why Haven's river has turned red. The locals believe this a biblical plague
caused by a girl, Loren McConnell (AnnaSophia Robb
), who they believe killed her older brother in the river. Katherine and Ben travel to Haven and examine the river. There, Katherine meets Loren and has a vision of Loren turning the river red. Meanwhile, Ben witnesses dead frogs seemingly fall from the sky. Doug then invites them to spend the night at his house, since the town has no motel. That evening they encounter flies suddenly eating their dinner, and disease, which kills off all of a local man's cows. Later that night, Katherine finds Doug outside at his wife's grave. Katherine explains why she left the church
: 5 years ago, Katherine was an ordained minister. After a year long drought while doing missionary
work in the Sudan
with her husband and daughter, the locals sacrificed
Katherine's family believing they were the cause. Katherine and Doug then depart back to the house.
Later, Katherine dreams images of her in bed with Doug, visions of her past, and Loren. In the morning she goes to the McConnells' house alone, where she finds the cult symbol on a door. She meets Loren again and, upon trying to help her, sees a series of visions that seem to show Loren killing her brother. When the visions ends, Katherine meets Loren's mother who is then attacked by Loren. Katherine leaves at the demand of Loren's mother. In town, Ben, Doug, and Katherine receive the test results from the river which is proven to be human blood. The citizens, meanwhile, are shaving the hair off all their children due to a mass outbreak of lice. Ben and Doug try to get the mayor to evacuate the town, but he and his staff are found struck down with boils. The town then forms a mob
, ready to kill Loren.
Reluctantly, Katherine calls Father Costigan, who explains the cult sacrifices every second born in an attempt to create a child with "the eyes of the Devil" to bring them power. He also states that an angel, who cannot be harmed by the cult, will appear to destroy them. He insists that Loren is the devil child, while trying to convince Katherine that she is the angel. Suddenly, a supernatural force burns down Costigan's room, trapping him inside and killing him. Desperate, Katherine goes to the McConnell house where she finds the cult's sacrificial chamber in the basement. There, She finds Loren's mother, who then pulls out a gun and kills herself. Katherine grabs a nearby knife and proceeds outside where a small group has gathered, including Ben and Doug. Suddenly, thousands of locusts appear killing some of the group. Doug runs away and jumps in the river of blood, Katherine locks herself inside the house, and Ben hides in a crypt, where he discovers skeletons and bodies of sacrificed children. He calls Katherine to tell her where he is when Loren appears outside.
Katherine hurries after Ben but arrives to find him dead. She confronts Loren as darkness falls and fireballs shoot from the sky. Katherine attacks and is about to kill Loren when they share another vision. The cult, along with Doug, are shown trying to kill Loren, who was a second-born child. Loren escaped and her brother Brody stabbed her, but her wound miraculously healed, and Brody died. Katherine realizes that Loren is innocent and that she is in fact the angel that God sent. The townsfolk appear and surround the two of them as Doug tells her that God is protecting Loren, and only an ordained servant of God like Katherine can kill her. He explains that they invited Katherine to investigate the plagues because they hoped she would join them, since she had turned her back on God like they did. Katherine refuses, while reminding them that they had sacrificed generations of second-born children leaving a town of only first-borns. Suddenly the fire begins raining down on the townsfolk, killing everyone. Doug tries to use Katherine as a shield against the fire, but is ultimately killed...
Later, Katherine and Loren are driving away together, when Loren discloses to Katherine that Katherine is pregnant and can "hear" her son inside her. Katherine is stunned by this knowledge as this is her second child, which triggers a flashback in which she remembers the night she was with Doug. Katherine then realizes that her son is the prophesied demonic child.
with many scenes shot in an abandoned WalMart store. When Hurricane Katrina
occurred midshoot (August 26, 2005), the production of the film was suspended for one week. Many scenes were shot at Ellerslie Plantation near St. Francisville, Louisiana
. The DVD special features record that the producers considered shooting in another city, but decided that Louisiana needed the economic benefit of the movie being shot there.
Before and during the making of the movie, skeptic investigator Joe Nickell
was consulted. The type of skeptical investigations by the movie's main character in the first part of the movie is roughly based on Nickell's investigations of claims of the paranormal
since 1969.
The film was originally scheduled to play in theaters on August 11, 2006, then November 8, 2006; it was then switched to March 30, 2007, (the date featured on the above poster), and then to April 6, 2007. It was finally released on April 5, 2007, to coincide with Holy Thursday.
, and went as far as the recording; however, the producers were not completely satisfied and decided to give it another try. John Frizzell
was then brought in to compose a new score.
, with most critical reactions being negative. The film opened at #5 in the U.S. Box Office Chart in the weekend of April 6, 2007. The film made a total of $62,771,059 in the Worldwide box office, and $22.71 million from DVD/Home Video revenue.
, the Mayor of Concepción, Chile
, formally objected to the producers of the film over its portrayal of the city in the opening scene. She pointed out that rather than being the dirty underdeveloped tropical city as shown in the movie, Concepción is an industrialized city with many universities and was surprised that such inadequate research of the setting had been carried out for a $100 million movie.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, starring Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank
Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi...
. The film was directed by Stephen Hopkins
Stephen Hopkins (director)
Stephen Hopkins is a Jamaican-born film director and producer. He is best-known for his continuation of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise with A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and the Predator franchise with Predator 2...
for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
and Dark Castle Entertainment
Dark Castle Entertainment
Dark Castle Entertainment is a division of Silver Pictures, a production house affiliated with Warner Bros. It was formed in 1999 by Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler...
. The music for the film was scored by John Frizzell
John Frizzell
John B. Frizzell is a Canadian screenwriter and film producer.After several years writing, directing and co-producing the documentary series A Different Understanding for TVOntario, Frizzell joined partners Niv Fichman, Barbara Willis Sweete and Larry Weinstein to found the Canadian production...
.
Plot
In his room, Father Michael Costigan (Stephen ReaStephen Rea
Stephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...
) puts together several photos that have been burned to form a pattern of an upside down sickle with a cross through it. The symbol is the inverted astrological symbol for Ceres
Ceres (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion, Ceres was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. She was originally the central deity in Rome's so-called plebeian or Aventine Triad, then was paired with her daughter Proserpina in what Romans described as "the Greek rites of Ceres"...
, which is believed to be Satanic.
Elsewhere, Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank
Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi...
) and her colleague, Ben (Idris Elba
Idris Elba
Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He has starred in both British and American productions. Elba grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including ...
), are in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
investigating claims of a miracle. Upon exploring the area, Katherine uncovers a cache of hazardous waste illegally stashed in an underground oil well, which has ruptured, causing the biological effects of the "miracle". In Louisiana, Katherine receives a call from Costigan, who explains the symbol, telling her that it is a warning from God, which Katherine ignores. Later, Doug Blackwell (David Morrissey
David Morrissey
David Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
), a science teacher from a nearby town called Haven, asks Katherine to help figure out why Haven's river has turned red. The locals believe this a biblical plague
Plagues of Egypt
The Plagues of Egypt , also called the Ten Plagues or the Biblical Plagues, were ten calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, Israel's God, Yahweh, inflicted upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh capitulated after the tenth...
caused by a girl, Loren McConnell (AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb is an American film and television actress. She gained prominence in 2005 with starring roles in Because of Winn-Dixie and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and starred in Bridge to Terabithia , Race to Witch Mountain , and Soul Surfer .-Personal life:Robb was born in Denver,...
), who they believe killed her older brother in the river. Katherine and Ben travel to Haven and examine the river. There, Katherine meets Loren and has a vision of Loren turning the river red. Meanwhile, Ben witnesses dead frogs seemingly fall from the sky. Doug then invites them to spend the night at his house, since the town has no motel. That evening they encounter flies suddenly eating their dinner, and disease, which kills off all of a local man's cows. Later that night, Katherine finds Doug outside at his wife's grave. Katherine explains why she left the church
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
: 5 years ago, Katherine was an ordained minister. After a year long drought while doing missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
work in the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
with her husband and daughter, the locals sacrificed
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
Katherine's family believing they were the cause. Katherine and Doug then depart back to the house.
Later, Katherine dreams images of her in bed with Doug, visions of her past, and Loren. In the morning she goes to the McConnells' house alone, where she finds the cult symbol on a door. She meets Loren again and, upon trying to help her, sees a series of visions that seem to show Loren killing her brother. When the visions ends, Katherine meets Loren's mother who is then attacked by Loren. Katherine leaves at the demand of Loren's mother. In town, Ben, Doug, and Katherine receive the test results from the river which is proven to be human blood. The citizens, meanwhile, are shaving the hair off all their children due to a mass outbreak of lice. Ben and Doug try to get the mayor to evacuate the town, but he and his staff are found struck down with boils. The town then forms a mob
Crowd
A crowd is a large and definable group of people, while "the crowd" is referred to as the so-called lower orders of people in general...
, ready to kill Loren.
Reluctantly, Katherine calls Father Costigan, who explains the cult sacrifices every second born in an attempt to create a child with "the eyes of the Devil" to bring them power. He also states that an angel, who cannot be harmed by the cult, will appear to destroy them. He insists that Loren is the devil child, while trying to convince Katherine that she is the angel. Suddenly, a supernatural force burns down Costigan's room, trapping him inside and killing him. Desperate, Katherine goes to the McConnell house where she finds the cult's sacrificial chamber in the basement. There, She finds Loren's mother, who then pulls out a gun and kills herself. Katherine grabs a nearby knife and proceeds outside where a small group has gathered, including Ben and Doug. Suddenly, thousands of locusts appear killing some of the group. Doug runs away and jumps in the river of blood, Katherine locks herself inside the house, and Ben hides in a crypt, where he discovers skeletons and bodies of sacrificed children. He calls Katherine to tell her where he is when Loren appears outside.
Katherine hurries after Ben but arrives to find him dead. She confronts Loren as darkness falls and fireballs shoot from the sky. Katherine attacks and is about to kill Loren when they share another vision. The cult, along with Doug, are shown trying to kill Loren, who was a second-born child. Loren escaped and her brother Brody stabbed her, but her wound miraculously healed, and Brody died. Katherine realizes that Loren is innocent and that she is in fact the angel that God sent. The townsfolk appear and surround the two of them as Doug tells her that God is protecting Loren, and only an ordained servant of God like Katherine can kill her. He explains that they invited Katherine to investigate the plagues because they hoped she would join them, since she had turned her back on God like they did. Katherine refuses, while reminding them that they had sacrificed generations of second-born children leaving a town of only first-borns. Suddenly the fire begins raining down on the townsfolk, killing everyone. Doug tries to use Katherine as a shield against the fire, but is ultimately killed...
Later, Katherine and Loren are driving away together, when Loren discloses to Katherine that Katherine is pregnant and can "hear" her son inside her. Katherine is stunned by this knowledge as this is her second child, which triggers a flashback in which she remembers the night she was with Doug. Katherine then realizes that her son is the prophesied demonic child.
Cast
- Hilary SwankHilary SwankHilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi...
as Katherine Winter - David MorrisseyDavid MorrisseyDavid Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
as Doug Blackwell - Idris ElbaIdris ElbaIdrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He has starred in both British and American productions. Elba grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including ...
as Ben - AnnaSophia RobbAnnaSophia RobbAnnaSophia Robb is an American film and television actress. She gained prominence in 2005 with starring roles in Because of Winn-Dixie and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and starred in Bridge to Terabithia , Race to Witch Mountain , and Soul Surfer .-Personal life:Robb was born in Denver,...
as Loren McConnell - Stephen ReaStephen ReaStephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...
as Father Michael Costigan - William RagsdaleWilliam RagsdaleRobert William Ragsdale is an American actor.-Life and career:Ragsdale was born in El Dorado, Arkansas. He attended Hendrix College, where he appeared in plays with Sling Blade actress and fellow Arkansan Natalie Canerday....
as Sheriff Cade - John McConellJohn McConnell (actor)John "Spud" McConnell , is an American actor and radio personality based in New Orleans, Louisiana.McConnell is a character actor who has appeared in more than 40 films, ranging from obscure independent films to major cinematic release movies John "Spud" McConnell (born November 13, 1958), is an...
as Mayor Brooks - Andrea Frankle as Maddie McConnell
- David JensenDavid JensenDavid "Kid" Jensen , is a Danish Canadian-born, British radio DJ.-Early career:Born in a Danish family residing Victoria, British Columbia, Jensen began his career in his home country at the age of sixteen playing jazz and classical music. He then joined Radio Luxembourg at the age of eighteen in...
as Jim Wakeman - Yvonne Landry as Brynn Wakeman
- Stuart GreerStuart GreerStuart Greer is an American character actor. He began acting in college productions while a student at the University of Arkansas/Little Rock before being accepted into the Professional Workshop at Circle in the Square in New York where he studied from 1987 to 1989...
as Gordon - Lara Grice as Isabelle
- Mark Lynch as Brody McConnell
- Myles Cleveland as Kyle Wakeman
- Samuel Garland as William Wakeman
- Cody Sanders as Hank
- Burgess JenkinsBurgess JenkinsBurgess Jenkins is a film actor known for work in the 2000 film Remember The Titans opposite Academy Award winner Denzel Washington; as Hilary Swank's husband David Winter in The Reaping...
as David Winter - Sabrina A. Junius as Sarah Winter
Production
Filming for the movie took place in and around Baton Rouge, LouisianaBaton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
with many scenes shot in an abandoned WalMart store. When Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
occurred midshoot (August 26, 2005), the production of the film was suspended for one week. Many scenes were shot at Ellerslie Plantation near St. Francisville, Louisiana
St. Francisville, Louisiana
St. Francisville is a town in and the parish seat of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,712 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:St...
. The DVD special features record that the producers considered shooting in another city, but decided that Louisiana needed the economic benefit of the movie being shot there.
Before and during the making of the movie, skeptic investigator Joe Nickell
Joe Nickell
Joe Nickell is a prominent skeptical investigator of the paranormal. He also works as an historical document consultant and has helped expose such famous forgeries as the purported diary of Jack the Ripper. In 2002 he was one of a number of experts asked by scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr...
was consulted. The type of skeptical investigations by the movie's main character in the first part of the movie is roughly based on Nickell's investigations of claims of the paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
since 1969.
The film was originally scheduled to play in theaters on August 11, 2006, then November 8, 2006; it was then switched to March 30, 2007, (the date featured on the above poster), and then to April 6, 2007. It was finally released on April 5, 2007, to coincide with Holy Thursday.
Score
The score was originally written by Philip GlassPhilip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
, and went as far as the recording; however, the producers were not completely satisfied and decided to give it another try. John Frizzell
John Frizzell
John B. Frizzell is a Canadian screenwriter and film producer.After several years writing, directing and co-producing the documentary series A Different Understanding for TVOntario, Frizzell joined partners Niv Fichman, Barbara Willis Sweete and Larry Weinstein to found the Canadian production...
was then brought in to compose a new score.
Reception
The film holds a 9% rating on the film review site Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, with most critical reactions being negative. The film opened at #5 in the U.S. Box Office Chart in the weekend of April 6, 2007. The film made a total of $62,771,059 in the Worldwide box office, and $22.71 million from DVD/Home Video revenue.
Controversy
Jacqueline Van RysselbergheJacqueline van Rysselberghe
Jacqueline van Rysselberghe Herrera is a Chilean politician and psychiatrist who graduated from the University of Concepción. She was mayor of Concepción from 2000 until her resignation in March 2010 to take the office of Indendant of the Biobío Region...
, the Mayor of Concepción, Chile
Concepción, Chile
Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Biobío Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants...
, formally objected to the producers of the film over its portrayal of the city in the opening scene. She pointed out that rather than being the dirty underdeveloped tropical city as shown in the movie, Concepción is an industrialized city with many universities and was surprised that such inadequate research of the setting had been carried out for a $100 million movie.