Movie Review--Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist

"It's so much easier to believe evil is random, or an ogre.  And not that it's a human condition, something everyone is capable of."

--Rachel Lesno, Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist

Dominion, its status as a prequel to The Exorcist literally part of its full title, tries to tackle very serious subject matter like the impact of Nazi Germany and ideological confusion while in a time of crisis, handling them with more of a focus on very slow burn worldbuilding than a focus on supernatural horror, at least for the first hour of the film.  There is an exorcism, which unfortunately includes the typical Trinitarian bullshit equated with core Christianity in so many movies, but most of the movie is dedicated to mere buildup.  Some viewers might subjectively find it too slow for them because of this, while viewers who prefer intentionally philosophical works might appreciate it far more.

Production Values

Dominion stands largely on its performances as it slowly builds to a climax, some of the primary cast members being Stellan Skarsgard (Thor) as Lankester Merrin, a priest who succumbs to a Nazi officer's whims, and Clara Bellar as Rachel, a medical professional who romantically bonds with Merrin after World War II.  The actors and actresses maintain very sincere performances all the way through, discussing and wrestling with philosophically important aspects of Christianity and relations between groups of people while exhibiting their individual characters' nuances--yet not all aspects of Dominion remain so consistently strong.  Closer to the end, very weak CGI contrasts with the largely practical effects and CGI-less shots of desert scenery and human interactions that take up far more of the runtime.  Since the effects of a poor quality are mostly if not wholly confined to later scenes, such blemishes on an otherwise carefully executed film cannot be legitimately said to represent the entire movie.

Story

Some spoilers are below.

Some time before the end of World War II, a Nazi has random civilians in an occupied territory shot when he cannot find the person responsible for killing German soldiers, pressuring a priest into choosing which people will die.  The experience traumatizes Lankester Merrin (the priest) so deeply that he hides within a pursuit of archeology after the war.  One of his excavation projects leads to the unearthing of a pseudo-church structure that appears to mark or guard something below its surface.  On further inspection, an area below the church-like building seems to have been used in human sacrifice to a pagan deity or demonic entity.

Intellectual Content

There is no logical fact from which it follows that a malevolent spirit will be trapped by building a structure dedicated to God above a temple used to sacrifice people to the demon or to some pagan deity the demon supposedly represents.  It remains logically possible, but Biblical details do not even hint at such a thing.  Much of the common conception of demonic activity and the possibility of one person restoring another from possession has far more to do with film norms than with Biblical theology.  Everything from the arbitrary exorcism rituals in many possession movies to the emphasis on physical iconography like "holy" water or random crosses has no basis in the Bible.  Even aside from the continuation of theologically baseless cliches, the characters often fall into the stupidity of hating God or religions that have not been disproven instead of hating whatever people are responsible for the deeds that have harmed them, a backwards approach that is far more damaging than yet another pointless association of things like holy water and genuine Christianity.

Conclusion

As a possession story, or at least a prequel to one of the most popular and respected possession movies of all time, Dominion has a weaker presence than plenty of other films.  This is not a default sign of poor quality for this subgenre im itself.  What it does mean is that viewers will find that the demonic activity does not even start until at least around 40-45 minutes in, and even then, subtlety and gradual buildup of the spiritual conflict are in play.  Dominion could have been more eventful and deep, yes.  Nonetheless, its consistently strong performances and its connection to a movie of immense cultural significance serve as genuine merits.

Content:

 1.  Violence:  The corpses of two men are displayed on an altar, with blades protruding from one of them.  A British brass member strikes a Kenyan on the head with a pistol before shooting another one in the head onscreen.