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The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a 2005 supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson, with screenplay by Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman. Its story is a loose adaptation of the 1981 non-fiction book The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel by Felicitas D. Goodman.
The film stars Jennifer Carpenter, Laura Linney, and Tom Wilkinson in leading roles. It centers around Emily Rose, who is believed to be possessed by the Devil and undergoes exorcism from Father Richard Moore, which ultimately leads to her death. Moore is charged with negligent homicide and faces trial, in which he is defended by the self-proclaimed agnostic Erin Bruner.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a loose adaptation of the true story surrounding the exorcism of the German woman, Anneliese Michel. The film is not a direct retelling of the actual account, rather it is inspired by the true story.
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Who was Anneliese Michel, the inspiration behind The Exorcism of Emily Rose?
Anneliese Michel was born into a devoutly Roman Catholic family in Bavaria, Germany, in 1952. She began experiencing seizures at 16 and was given medication for epilepsy, which did not help with her convulsions.
With time, her condition got worse, and she developed a deep aversion to everything related to Christianity. Anneliese began claiming to see demonic faces and hearing demonic voices. It escalated into her eating bugs and screaming relentlessly.
In desperation, she resorted to doing almost 600 genuflections daily, which ended up severely damaging the ligaments in her knees. It is not clear who decided on the exorcism- Anneliese or her parents. However, the priests Ernst Alst and Arnold Renz were called to perform the rites.
The harrowing truth behind her exorcism and death
The two priests performed weekly exorcisms on the young girl, with the first one taking place on September 24, 1975. They made video recordings of the sessions, which exist to this day and are truly disturbing to watch. Within a year, Anneliese underwent 67 exorcisms, and during this time, she discontinued her medications on the orders of the priests.
She almost stopped eating food, resulting in her weight dropping to nearly 70 lbs by the time of her death on July 1, 1976. At the time, leading publications reported that the priests succeeded in ridding her body of demons as they had claimed to see stigmata marks (similar to Jesus' when he was nailed to the cross) on her hands and feet, signaling that she was completely free of demons.
Key differences between the real story and the film
For starters, the film's protagonist is American rather than German. However, Emily does speak in German during her exorcism. Emily is 19 years old, and the film depicts only one exorcism. In contrast, Anneliese was almost 23 years old and went through roughly 70 exorcisms before her death.
Furthermore, in the film, only Father Richard Moore was put on trial for negligent homicide and was found to be guilty. But, his sentence was reduced to the time he had already served in jail. So, he walked out as a free man at the end of his trial.
In real life, the two priests and Anneliese's parents (Anna and Josef Michel) were charged with her death. Their trial began on March 30, 1978, and the jury reached the same verdict, finding all four of them guilty. But in the end, they only received three months probation in addition to the time they had already served.
The film's plot summary and cast list
The Exorcism of Emily Rose's synopsis, as per Rotten Tomatoes, is as follows:
"The Rev. Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is prosecuted for the wrongful death of a girl thought to be demonically possessed, because he administered the church-sanctioned exorcism that ultimately killed her."
It continues:
"Prosecuting attorney Ethan Thomas (Campbell Scott) contends that the young woman, Emily (Jennifer Carpenter), suffered from schizophrenia and should have been medically diagnosed. Meanwhile, defense lawyer Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) argues that Emily's condition cannot be explained by science alone."
In The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Jennifer Carpenter plays Emily Rose with Tom Wilkinson as Father Richard Moore, Laura Linney as Erin Bruner, and Campbell Scott as Ethan Thomas.
Additionally, the supporting cast features Colm Feore as Karl Gunderson, Joshua Close as Jason, Henry Czerny as Dr. Briggs, Duncan Fraser as Dr. Graham Cartwright, J. R. Bourne as Ray, Mary Beth Hurt as Judge Brewster, Shohreh Aghdashloo as Dr. Sadira Adani, and Kenneth Welsh as Dr. Mueller.
