LOST SOULS
Director—Janusz Kaminski
Maya Larkin—Winona Ryder
Peter Kelson—Ben Chaplin

When a demon-possessed serial killer's notes reveal the name of a man who is destined to be possessed by Satan to become the Antichrist, a young Christian named Maya Larkin (Winona Ryder) embarks on a quest to arrest the transformation of psychologist Peter Kelson (Ben Chaplin) into the devil incarnate. Ryder fumes, mopes, and stares at Chaplin in her attempts to "save" him, and Chaplin mopes and stares back; the two wander like lost actors in a movie that—save for some interesting visuals and cinematography—is just plain bad. Rarely scary and generally incoherent, the film is mediocre at best, and though it (surprisingly) tries to put a positive spin on Christianity, the plot and character development are so threadbare that no one will remember.

Plot hole number one: why would a demon write down numeric code revealing sensitive Antichrist information, and so simple that it can be cracked by an untrained girl on an all-night coffee and nicotine jag? No one even speculates. Plot hole number two: how does this crack team of priests (and Ryder) know so much about the Antichrist's "creation criteria" (he'll have a pentacle under the bed to "sanctify" him, Ryder's character asserts, among other things) and yet they know so little about their own Bible? More on this later. Plot hole number three: the possessed serial killer breaks out to kill Maya, but—when Kelson saves her—the man simply sits on the floor and makes his own bones crack and twist around. Huh? No one even bothers to comment on this event after it occurs so gratuitously. I can just hear the director in final editing: "quick, this part's really dragging; we need some mindless gross-out here that won't have any relevance." The film even gets blurry and cuts away, as if they didn't have the funds for decent bone-breaking effects shot. Plot hole number four: the film spends needless time with the attempted exorcism of a demon, which has possessed their most faithful priest (don't even get me started on that one). With the demon purged, the priest dies in Maya's arms, conveying a piece of vital information that leads her and Kelson… nowhere. It seems to be nothing more than a bridge-piece to get them to the next scene.

What's refreshing about this banal film is that it presents Christ—and a Biblical, God-ordered universe—as true. Whether it is the doctor at a mental hospital, a weak-minded priest, or Kelson himself, the film makes non-believers seem lacking. When interviewed on television, Kelson states that he doesn't believe in "capital 'E' evil; his worldview seems shallow, however, and crumbles easily enough when confronted with the truth. Though it's probably nothing more than Hollywood's pluralism and postmodernism showing, it was refreshing to see a film accept—practically from the opening credits—that the devil is real, that Christ is real, and that we are all bit-players in this story and struggle. Heck, it surprises me when a film about Christians or the devil even mentions Christ, as Ryder's character does frequently. Unfortunately, weak writing and shallow characters cannot make this film worthwhile. The supporting actors have nothing but a few hollow sentences; Kelson's girlfriend, a significant role, interacts with her boyfriend for all of about four spoken lines. There is no chemistry between them… or between Ryder and Chaplin, for that matter. The film is hollow, and the "shocking revelations" are transparent from the film's beginning.

There are some interesting bits of cinematography, primarily in Maya Larkin's visions. One of the few chilling moments in the film is when a little girl torments Maya in a seedy diner, chanting over and over that "Jesus is dead". Evil children and fast-motion face shaking still haven't lost their spine-tingling effect on this viewer. Also, the director attempts to make priests look… well, really freakin' cool; there are two scenes where the Exorcists are shown striding in slow motion—robes swishing stylishly as they wield the tools of their trade—not unlike Keanu in his black trenchcoat from "The Matrix". It almost works but, considering the disjointed film it's framed in, the style also feels odd and out of place.

Lastly, it seems Hollywood in general will never fathom the relationship of the anti-Christ to the discerning Christian. Honestly, why on earth would any believer want to "halt" the coming of the anti-Christ? Let me qualify: a Christian will certainly oppose the Antichrist's actions, or anyone who exhibits traits that are "anti-Christ". Yet Revelation clearly illustrates that the rise—and fall—of the Antichrist is a necessary stage in God's plan, the penultimate chapter before the climax of Christ's return and triumph. Trying to murder the Antichrist for the purpose of halting events in Revelation is essentially an attempt to stop God's plan, or stave off the end of the world that—to the Christian—is an eagerly-awaited event! God's justice, mercy, redemption and new creation all follow on the heels of the Antichrist's brief reign. If one could truly pinpoint who might become the literal Antichrist prophesied in Scripture, murdering that person for the sake of "helping" God to overcome evil would be ludicrous.

"Lost Souls" does for Christianity what "Battlefield: Earth" did for Scientology, and what "Mission to Mars" did for the alien "space-seeding" theory. Instead of portraying Christians as idiots, lunatics, or just plain stupid within a movie, it portrays believers as being correct—even cool—in a stupid movie.

I'm guessing the result is pretty much the same.