Stigmata (1999)

reviewed by
Indra Moeljadi


Stigmata (1999)
review

Stigmata: wounds similar to Jesus' wounds when he was crucified.

This movie is based on a real thing, and with something that happens in reality among very religious people. If you know all that, then this movie is pretty scary, because it shows the Stigmata, and it also tells about the missing document of the church.

Frankie Page (Patricia Arquette) is a regular girl living in Pennsylvania. She works and goes out and she doesn't believe in God. One day she gets an rosary from her mother and then all the fun begins. Father Andrew Kiernan (Gabriel Byrne) works at the Vatican as a scientist. So he was sent to see what's happening to Frankie Page.

The setting is very dark and wet (it rains almost all the time in Pennsylvania), and Frankie's being possessed by another Father is portrayed as if it is a horror movie. Andrew Kiernan is more of a scientist than a religious man, and the Cardinal looks like a mafia godfather, when in fact he is one of the highest order in Catholic church. And most of all, the movie lacks climax. The climax point was very obvious and it has a lower intensity compared to other scenes.

This movie could have been a great movie, giving that ir was based on a true story, with facts that happens, but the whole portrayal of it is just too Hollywood, too unreligious. I'm not complaining that this movie offends or misinterprets some religions, but if you're going to make a movie about certain aspects of a religion, it is better to know the religion first.

Nice music though from Billy Corgan.
Indra Moeljadi
didn't know that the Vatican has scientists
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