Faith in Film 4, Week 2

Here's a look at the worksheet for this week's selection, "Devil," which isn't quite as traumatic as its name!


Title: “Devil” (2010)

Starring: Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, and Jacob Vargas

Synopsis: This was not a movie that many people saw. It came out late in the summer of 2010 to little fanfare. By the time it was released, the name M. Night Shymalan didn’t have the creative weight it used to, and this was a small movie that came out during a season of blockbusters. Yet it offered a unique vision into a concept that was both engrossing and fascinating. The film is grounded in the idea of religion and wrestles with some weighty concepts throughout its short running time. All that is woven into a short, confined horror film. That is where the creativity of construction — not just of the story but of the film craft — comes into play. Everything comes full circle and is important in the telling of this story.

The film takes place almost entirely in an office building and, more specifically, in an elevator where five people are trapped. The reason they are all trapped together slowly becomes clear, and the reason that certain people are there to witness the whole thing becomes clear as well. This is a fascinating film that follows closely to the model that Shymalan uses in his films, as he came up with the story, but it narrows in on a specific religious concept. This is a film that forces you to deal with the idea of loss, how we respond to loss and, more importantly, how we face the idea of forgiveness. And, this film goes in a very unexpected direction, which is what makes it a cut above film that usually pervade this genre.

Questions to Consider:
1. Have you ever experienced a deep loss? How did you respond in that situation?


2. Have you ever experienced a situation that made it difficult for you to offer forgiveness?


3. How does it feel to forgive? How does it feel to be forgiven?