I spent the nearly 20 minute return trip from the theatre pondering exactly what was the reason that Nefarious left me somewhat disappointed.
I thought at first that it was because it is a very short list of movies over the years that overwhelmed me. Certainly, The Passion of the Christ was one, United 93 another. Maybe I am too hard to impress.
Then again, maybe it was that I set expectations too high, given the lofty reviews. One noted Catholic blogger gave it 10 stars out of 10.
I became even more perplexed at my own disappointment when I examined the main conflict explored which is one I have championed for years and one at the forefront of our apostolate. That theme is how atheism has so taken over the psychiatric profession that 2 of the 4 persons (the spiritual and emotional) that make up a human, are treated as non-existent.
In the plot line, the Psychiatrist simply cannot accept the possibility that some of these people who claim to be possessed/obsessed/influenced by demons, really are.
I keep circling back to one real-world example that happened some 5 years ago that can be seen in this actual video of the arrest of a person that just killed 17 people.
How anyone can look at what this person did and dismiss the idea of the demonic is beyond me.
Then it hit me.
That's why I was disappointed. It's not that the movie didn't explore a much needed theme- it sure did. It also is not that the acting of Sean Patrick Flannery as the killer, wasn't as brilliant as was advertised- it was.
The movie made me feel disappointed in the way I am disappointed when a debater with a slam dunk case, loses in style points due to a flat delivery. The characters, themes and plot were too underdeveloped and the movie left me wanting much more. A critically important message delivered with a half-hearted effort. 5 stars out of 10.
Comments