The Order

“Sin eating” is a ritual by which the sins of a dying person are transferred to a living person, thereby releasing the deceased soul.

Written and directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland, ‘The Order’ (originally titled ‘The Sin Eater’) is patterned on ‘70s supernatural thrillers like ‘The Omen,’ ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ ‘The Order,’ is loaded with classic gothic imagery—shadowy Vatican intrigue, a defrocked priest, corrupt Cardinals, burdened souls, demonic children, Faustian pursuit of arcane knowledge, etc., etc.

Father Alex Bernier (Ledger) is a member of an obscure order of priests known as Carolingians. When Cardinal Driscoll (a deathly-looking Peter Weller) appears at Bernier’s church with news that the head of Bernier’s order has been found dead, at Driscoll’s urging, Bernier travels to Rome with a troubled young woman (Sossamon) (upon whom he once performed an exorcism) to investigate mysterious circumstances surrounding the death. There he discovers strange marks on the body that may be the sign of a Sin Eater, a renegade who offers absolution and last rites to the dying outside the jurisdiction of the church. Enlisting the help of fellow Caroligian Father Thomas (Addy), he soon finds himself at the heart of the very mystery he’s investigating.

‘The Order’ differs from the typical horror film in that, throughout most of the story, Helgeland’s true sympathies lie not with his protagonist, but with the Sin Eater, the movie’s supernatural “monster.” ''Sometimes, when you look into the abyss,” the Sin Eater says, “the abyss looks back into you.'' It’s corny as movie dialogue, but this paraphrase of Nietzsche (“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you”) neatly summarizes the plight of the Sin Eater.

The film’s muddled theology and impolite allegory of corruption in the Catholic Church earned the film an ‘O’ (‘morally offensive”) rating from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. But “morally offensive” is kind of the whole point. There are some interesting ideas and imagery kicking around the film, but for whatever reason Helgeland never seems to have control of them, never deciding if he’s making a serious-intentioned theological statement or just a spooky little horror movie. Ultimately ‘The Order’ is neither. There are several thought provoking moments in the film, but the film’s ideas are as sloppy as its special effects, and it’s not helpful that Ledger’s performance is decidedly the weakest and least interesting in the film.

Matt Parks (September 20, 2003)