The Reaping

The Reaping is set in a southern American town called Haven (presumably a stab at irony) where the residents are convinced that the skinny, blonde daughter of the requisite town loon has caused a biblical plague to descend upon them. The town's river is running red and the knives are out. Enter Professor Katherine Winter (Swank), expert in debunking religious phenomena and a recovering Christian missionary with a dark secret. Can she convince Haven that the source of ill is located in the river's algae before they kill an innocent child? Well, not before she's battled with God, Satan and, of course, her own inner demons. Sadly, Hopkins is too content to revert to pastiche rather than originality; the well worn elements of the horror/thriller genre are simply too predictable to be scary, while the final religious message is at best odious and at worst, offensive. [Anna Rogers]