Was The Rite Based On A True Story? The Horror Movie’s Inspiration Explained

The Rite states that it’s based on true events despite bolstering its exorcism scenes with predictable Hollywood melodrama, prompting fans to wonder how much of it is based in reality. It follows a skeptical seminary student in Rome named Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue) who must attend a Vatican school of exorcism in order to complete his training. He believes possession is the work of a troubled mind rather than demonic influence, but after becoming an apprentice to Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins), he encounters a terrifying force under the tutelage of the veteran exorcist that causes him to question his faith.

While many movies about exorcism include victims of possession crawling on walls and spinning heads, this film attempts a more authentic approach to its supernatural subject matter. The ending of The Rite has its share of tropes, but it’s supposed to spark a theological debate rather than provide definitive proof about exorcisms and demons. The film is at its best when it’s effectively drawing on actual source material, and highlighting the mechanics of exorcism within the Catholic Church and its practical application.

The Rite Is Based On A Book & Father Gary Thomas’ Time As An Exorcist-In-Training

One of the things that differentiates the film from similar movies is that The Rite is based on a book by Matt Balgio that focuses on Father Gary Thomas’ time training to be an exorcist. In 2004, Pope John Paul II declared that every bishop in the world had to select a priest to be trained as an exorcist due to growing occult activity. While in the diocese of San Jose, California, Rev. Thomas was selected by his bishop to take a course at a Vatican-affiliated university in Rome, and eventually apprenticed himself to a veteran exorcist, Father Carmine, with Balgio on hand to document the priest’s experience with exorcisms in the field.

Though the material can come across as dry, Baglio’s intent is not to sensationalize exorcisms by separating fact and fiction as they pertain to the demonic. While The Rite had to make certain aspects more dramatic to entice viewers, it didn’t shy away from delving into the human aspect of the demonic. Rev. Thomas experienced possessed individuals speaking in languages they had no competency in, five men could barely restrain a woman, and foaming at the mouth as the demonic entity was cast out of the victim’s body in response to holy prayer.

What Happened To The Real Priest That Inspired 2011’s The Rite

After completing his training, Rev. Gary Thomas was a diocesan exorcist for 15 years before being made Director of the Propaedeutic Year Program at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California. The program was established on July 21st, 2021 by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in response to Pope Francis’s 2014 mandate that a Propaedeutic Year be part of every seminary in the United States.  This is an important pre-seminary preparation program that helps men accepted by their bishops for priestly studies enter the theological and philosophical disciplines.

In recent years, Father Gary Thomas has spoken to Cosmopolitan about what it’s like to be an exorcist. At the height of his term, he would receive dozens of calls a week requesting him to perform an exorcism, which he never did alone, and always with “a clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, a medical doctor, [and] a prayer team” so that the individual could be properly evaluated. While The Rite may not get everything correct about actual possessions, it offers an investigation of a fascinating field that Rev. Thomas has said must attract the “ultimate skeptics” in order to be the most effective.

Source: Cosmopolitan