Requiem (2006)

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Posted By: brian@brianschell.com April 21, 2022

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

This wasn’t really horror, but was closer to the true events that the horror movie “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” is based on. It’s more of a descent into madness from the look of it, medically induced rather than supernaturally. But religion plays a big part in it, and not in a good way. It was interesting, and definitely worth a watch if you’ve seen the Emily Rose movie

Synopsis

Michaela Klingler goes into the little church to pray. She gets the mail, and we see that she’s been accepted into the university. Her parents aren’t so sure about the idea, “How can you go with your thing?” “The pills aren’t for fun; I haven’t had anything for six months,” Michaela replies. She goes to see her new dorm, and everyone is very nice. Her father leaves her there, and everything is great.

She meets a girl she knew in high school Hanna, but Hanna doesn’t seem too thrilled to be re-acquainted with Michaela. They eventually become more friendly as time passes.

We see that the whole Klingler family is very religious. They go as a group on a pilgrimage to some old church. Marianne, Michaela’s mother, really doesn’t approve of the whole going off to university thing, even though Michaela is 21. We watch Michaela have an epileptic seizure on the floor. She says she heard voices this time.

She goes back to school and to a party with Hanna, where she meets a boy, Stefan! Kissing and dancing ensues. She goes back to her dorm after having a fun time.

The next morning, Hannah finds Michaela freaked out hiding under a desk. Michaela tells her about her epilepsy, which has a sketchy diagnosis; it’s more diagnosis by elimination than anything else. Hannah wants her to see a university doctor.

Michaela goes to see Gerhard, her old priest. She says something was keeping her from touching her rosary. Last night, faces called her a slut all night. She keeps seeing the faces. The priest says the devil is just a story, and maybe she needs to see a psychiatrist. She gets a 1970’s EEG, which looks terrifying in itself. She ends up with a new prescription for a new drug.

The priest verifies that Michaela is seeing a doctor, and he introduces her to Father Martin, a younger priest. He talks about how the world makes our souls sick. They pray to avoid evil thoughts.

Her father arrives; his insurance contacted him about her doctor’s visit. He’s worried. Time passes, and she and Stefan continue to go out and have more good times.

Christmas comes and Michaela and Hannah go back home to their town. Things go great on Christmas until her mother throws out all her clothes and they have a big fight. Getting so upset, Michaela soon has another episode. She thinks she’s not allowed to pray anymore, which means another trip to the young priest. This time, she’s not having it and walks out.

Michaela goes back to school and finds that Hannah had a bad week too. She tells Hannah about hearing voices. Hannah mentions that Michaela might want to see a psychiatrist. She goes to see Stefan, and this time, they finally have sex; Michaela’s first time.

She has trouble with her hands. There’s a big essay to write and she has a hard time concentrating, so she dumps all her pills down the drain. Stefan then comes over and helps her type the paper. He helps her cut up her food. Afterwards, they go out dancing. She’s pretty wild, and he wonders why she’s so different. “What’ll you look like after four more years of this?” he asks. “Maybe it is too much,” he adds. He goes home.

Both of her parents, along with both priests come to visit. They’ve talked about her, making decisions without her input.. She’s hostile, but they’re insistent. The young priest has approved an exorcism and the old priest is very much against it. Michaela’s father is on her side, but her mother is all about the priests.

Hanna and Stefan talk about how much weight Michaela has lost. He didn’t know about the epilepsy, but Hanna fills him in. Hanna tells her to shut up about the stupid saints and go see a doctor. She really doesn’t see how a hospital can help her; she can’t touch the cross anymore. She can barely even walk.

Stefan doesn’t want to have her committed, so he takes her home to her parents. Her father pulls out the medical records that say Michaela needs to be institutionalized. She’s angry and obnoxious and throws a fit, so mom thinks she’s possessed.. “You belong in a clinic!” shouts her father.

And then the priests arrive. She’s hostile to them, so it must be demons. There’s lots of praying and screaming. The next day, she goes for a walk with Hanna, and Hanna offers to take her away from all this. Michaela says this is her life now and doesn’t want to leave.

Then the film ends. We read in the text that following a few dozen exorcisms, Michaela died of exhaustion at her parents’ house.

Commentary

The true story this is based on happened in 1976, Anneliese Michel in Klingenberg, Germany. She died of starvation after an exorcism. This film is far more of a drama than a horror film, but it’s based on the same story as “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” That film has much more of a horror focus than this one, but it’s the same story. It’s well acted, realistically done, and flows pretty well. It doesn’t get boring, but it is a slow-moving drama.

The first hour is a pretty common story of someone from a small town going off to university, but in this case, she’s hiding, and apparently recovering from, a fairly severe medical condition. Michaela’s religious fanatic mother makes everything stressful for the rest of the family, which only makes Michaela more likely to have seizures. The bad behavior after that is probably just some kind of psychotic breakdown due to losing physical control of herself.

The next time you hear someone say that religion is harmless, show them this film.