Oscar® nominee Laura Linney (Love Actually) plays Erin Bruner, Father Moore's lawyer, who soon discovers the truth and reasons for the exorcism and Emily's suffering.

The film was very frightening. There were a few typical "jumps" like every other horror film throws in, but its non-jumpy scares were much stronger. One scene involved Emily's best friend staying in her dorm room at college where she was first allegedly attacked by demons. He wakes up and finds her on the floor, contorted, staring at him with completely dilated pupils.

The shot of her has her staring towards the camera i.e. the audience and it got a HUGE response from the crowd I viewed it with. They, like me, were completely on edge by the shot and the situation.

The picture was also very well written in pacing and material, keeping Emily's true story a secret, but adding in certain testimony outside the courtroom and helping characters. However, the third act ran a little long for me, but not enough to put me off; just enough to make me notice.

One thing I really like about the picture was how the prosecutor of the trial, played by Campbell Scott (Singles), had a legitimate believable explanation for every aspect of the exorcism and supernatural events leading up to it. They went from giving a physiological explanation for her "condition," to showing her stigmata in one scene of act three was cause by her grabbing a barbed wire fence while having a hallucination.

The explanations helped the film's message greatly. It gave balance and allowed the viewer to feel the same points lawyer Bruner made in her final statement for the defense. Even if you do not believe, it is "possible" these events have a supernatural explanation.

Laura Linney was very solid as Bruner, while Wilkinson appeared to make Father Moore his easiest role ever. Campbell Scott also had a good performance as an older character. However, the show is centered on the physically demanding performance of Jennifer Carpenter as Emily Rose. She really threw herself into the situation and torment of her character, and it paid off. She would be the one to sell us on the picture, and in my mind, she more than did so.

With this film, writer/director Scott Derrickson posted maybe his first impressive credit to his resume after having called the shots on such movies as "Hellraiser: Inferno" and writing the sequel to "Urban Legend." He did have help writing "…Emily Rose" though.

Overall, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" is a smart, carefully crafted thriller that deserves to be seen. If you are subbornly against all the beliefs of the Catholic faith, the picture may put you off. However, if you typically keep an open mind to "spiritual" movies, than I think you'll get both a primitive scare and an intellectual buzz from this work.