''Possessed'' is a 2000 American horror

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by Steven E. de Souza, written by de Souza and

Michael Lazarou Michael Lazarou (born March 17, 1960, in Los Angeles, California) is an American film and television writer/TV producer, producer. Biography Lazarou began his career as story editor for the half-hour television comedy ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'' and ...

, and starring

Timothy Dalton Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. He gained international prominence as the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, starring in '' The Living Dayli ...

. The film is based on events appearing in the 1993 book ''Possessed'' by Thomas B. Allen, which was inspired by the

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

case of Roland Doe. The film aired on Showtime on October 22, 2000, and was released on DVD in the United States on October 2, 2001.

Plot summary

William S. Bowdern is a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veteran who was severely affected by a bad experience in France on

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the Church, whether they are know ...

in 1944. In the first scene of the film, we flash-back through one of Bowdern's dreams to where he was trying to escape from a German advance as

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

(SS) soldiers execute wounded American soldiers. A wounded soldier calls Bowdern, the

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

, to give him the

Last Rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. The Commendation of the Dying is practiced in liturgical Chri ...

; Bowdern at first denies him so he can escape. Bowdern rethinks the matter and does his duty but is bayonetted by an SS soldier. He becomes an alcoholic, tormented by his injuries and the guilt of refusing a dying man's last wish. Years later, Bowdern is teaching his students at St. Louis University (SLU) when, at the end of the lecture, a frozen sausage smashes through the classroom's window. When Bowdern gets out, he discovers that there is a demonstration against the school's recent

racial integration Racial integration, or simply integration, includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation), leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of Race (classification of human beings), race, and t ...

. When the police arrive, he asks them to arrest "those people" — meaning the protestors — but the police arrest the black students instead. Angered, Bowdern physically attacks the cops, who arrest him as well. Father Raymond McBride pays his

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

, and drives him to the Alexian Brothers Hospital to show where the church places hopeless alcoholics and the mentally ill. Robbie Mannheim is sitting with his aunt, Hanna, who is teaching him how to contact the "other world". Robbie's mother suddenly discovers the two at the ouija board. She scolds Aunt Hanna for disregarding her request that she must not expose Robbie to such ideas. Robbie disobeys his mother's demands that he stay away from the

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

, as he enjoys the contacts. When Aunt Hanna dies, Robbie continues trying to reach the other world. One day one of Robbie's classmates during school is severely wounded in the hand when a desk falls on top of him. Robbie is blamed. Ultimately, he is expelled from school. His father demands to know why Robbie hurt his classmate. When Robbie explains to his father that he did not deliberately do that and the desk moved itself, his father does not believe him and decides to physically punish him. Before he can, the chair on which Robbie is sitting moves out from under him, making Robbie crash to the floor. Robbie's parents feel someone or something is trying to harm their child. They feel he may really be "possessed". They take him to the Lutheran Pastor Reverend Eckhardt, who believes what they are experiencing is a poltergeist. He takes Robbie to his house to put him under exact monitoring (by putting him in a special room and attaching a light in front of his bed to help him record daily reactions by his camera). During Robbie's stay, several things occur that convince Eckhardt that Robbie is being afflicted by demons: strange noises are made in the house, the wall clock is smashed, and Robbie falls into fits of rage and hysteria. When Eckhardt tells his wife that Robbie should be treated by the Catholics, Robbie attacks him. McBride visits the family in their house to check on Robbie after his parents go to the university requesting help. During one of Robbie's fits of hysteria, the parents find the letters SLU scrawled on his belly. When McBride enters his room, he is attacked and becomes convinced that the child is endowed with some sort of supernatural power. He convinces Bowdern to visit the family. Bowdern visits Robbie in his room, comforting him with his knowledge of comic books. Bowdern notices that Robbie is interested in magic and

ventriloquism Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

, while Robbie notices that Bowdern is affected by his collection of

toy soldier A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, Native Americans in the United States, American Indians, pirates, samu ...

s that sets off a post traumatic stress disorder event. When Father Bowdern tries to convince the parents that there is nothing wrong with Robbie, the boy suddenly becomes hysterical, speaking in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

as things fly across the room. Bowdern becomes convinced that Robbie must undergo treatment. Bowdern and McBride go to Archbishop Hume to persuade him to give Robbie an exorcism. The Archbishop is skeptical, saying that he is trying to improve the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

's public image as a modern institution, free of ancient

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...

. He requests to speak to McBride alone, and he nominates Bowdern to handle the issue. Bowdern begins Robbie's treatment, assisted by McBride and Father Walter Halloran. They conduct several visits to him during which Robbie starts throwing temper tantrums. He scratches at them, vomits and urinates on them, and swears uncontrollably. During the treatment trials, Bowdern has flashbacks to his war experiences and dreads that this may be another failure. Robbie is transferred twice to two different churches. Finally, Bowdern manages to cure him. The room in the church where the exorcism takes place is locked on Archbishop Hume's orders.

Cast

as Fr. William S. Bowdern * Henry Czerny as Fr. Raymond McBride * Jonathan Malen as Robbie Mannhiem * Michael Rhoades as Karl Mannheim * Shannon Lawson as Phyllis Mannheim *

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...

as Archbishop Hume * Piper Laurie as Aunt Hanna * Richard Waugh as Reverend Eckhardt * Michael McLachlan as Fr. Walter Halloran

References

External links

* *
Real Men of God
at ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...

'' *
Exorcising 'The Exorcist'
at " Brill's Content"
Demons Within: Exorcism Movies
at " Starburst" {{DEFAULTSORT:Possessed (2000 Film) 2000 television films 2000 films 2000 horror films 2000 in American television 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s supernatural horror films American horror television films American religious horror films American supernatural horror films American World War II films English-language horror films Films about Catholic priests Films about exorcism Films about Spiritism Films based on American horror novels Films directed by Steven E. de Souza Films scored by John Frizzell (composer) Films set in 1944 Films set in the 1950s Films set in France Films set in St. Louis Films with screenplays by Steven E. de Souza Holiday horror films Showtime (TV network) films Television films based on books