"Reaping" a fruitless harvest

Just Out supernatural thriller, Stephen Hopkins' "The Reaping" sets out as a modern depiction of the 10 biblical plagues of "Exodus" but ends up making the viewer feel what sins do I need to repent for so as to make this 11th cinematic plague go away.

With it's 'fresh' and a bit horrendous take on ideology about God, the devil and what lies ahead for humanity, the movie barely manages to thrill the senses and delivers a whopping ending more absurd than anything else.

Hilary Swank stars as Katherine Winter, who debunks religious miracles as we get to know through her past reflection of suffering a grievous loss in the mission field as a missionary that led to the death of her faith. But she's forced to relive her past as a priest (Stephen Rea) informs her that he has witnessed a supernatural phenomena that indicates the great danger Katherine is in.

Unrelenting, Katherine sets out with her partner, Ben (Idris Elba), to investigate reports from a Haven resident, Doug (David Morrissey), of a river that’s turned red. Has water turned to blood or is there a scientific explanation for a change in the water’s color? Soon enough frogs start falling from the sky, flies appear and livestock begin to die mysteriously.

Ben, a man of faith, is open to the possibilities of miraculous claims, but Katherine explains how each of the 10 plagues recorded in the book of “Exodus” has a scientific basis. If those plagues were simply manifestations of natural processes, why should Haven’s incidents be thought of as supernatural? – that is what we get enlightened with and believers cringe thinking what wrath may pour down on Katherine for her blasphemous remarks.

The town’s residents believe the source of their affliction is a young girl (AnnaSophia Robb) who lives in the woods with her mother. “A single welfare mom letting her kids run wild don’t fit the town profile,” a town official tells Katherine. It seems the girl’s brother was found dead earlier, and the younger sister is the chief suspect in his death. Will God keep raining destruction upon Haven until the young girl is brought to “justice”?

The increasingly agitated townsfolk decide to take matters into their own hands and move the young girl out of the way for curtailing the impending nemesis that lurked at large, but Katherine has a change of heart and becomes the protector after the priest informs her of a startling prophecy from 1,500 B.C., for the fulfillment of which both Katherine and the girl would have to be in their larger than life formats. The following hasty ending tickles the funny bone rather than thrilling.

Christians anticipate a series of signs that signal judgment and the end of all things, but these are recorded in the book of “Revelation,” not in the book of “Exodus,” which provides a type of Christ in the person of Moses and an illustration of how God sets us free from bondage. This is not the interest of “The Reaping,” which never offers any serious attempt to deal with the theological significance of the 10 plagues or the spiritual purpose of the “Exodus” account. Although Katherine is forced to confront her lack of faith, the film is not interested in theological plagues or ultimately in Katherine’s recovery from her hardness of heart.

Considering these as just bloopers we can move ahead and certainly hope we don't have to be at the 'reaping' end of a similar movie atleast in the near future.