REQUIEM
(three stars)
Hell of a time.
In German, with English subtitles. Running time: 89 minutes. Not rated (mature themes). At the Lincoln Plaza and the IFC Center.
YOU won’t find rotating heads and vomit in the exorcism movie “Requiem.” Instead, German director Hans-Christian Schmid relies on a frighteningly realistic performance by Sandra Huller as blue-eyed blonde Michaela.
It’s the 1970s, and Michaela lives in a small town with her younger sister, her supportative father and her strict-Catholic mother. Eager to be on her own, Michaela goes off to college despite her mother’s resistance.
“How can you go with your thing?” the older woman demands to know. The “thing” she refers to is Michaela’s seizures – caused, her doctors believe, by epilepsy.
School proves liberating for the 21-year-old, who becomes pals with classmate Hanna and beds a cute boy, Stefan. But the stress of change is too much – and Michaela flips out. Most would say she’s suffering from depression, but her repressive religious upbringing convinces her she’s possessed by demons. In fact, she believes that her suffering mirrors that of her favorite saint.
Anybody who’s ever seen a movie about exorcism knows that, in cases like this, the first thing to do is call 1-800-PRIEST, which the family does.
“Requiem” is based on the same events – the death of a woman in Germany while undergoing exorcism – as the 2005 American movie “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” But while that story revolves around the trial of a priest in the woman’s death, “Requiem” follows events leading up to the exorcism.
Huller, a stage actress making her feature screen debut, throws heart and soul into her performance. It’s a complex role, to which Huller does justice. For his part, Schmid shows that you can grab viewers without resorting to special effects.