THE GATHERING (2002)

The Gathering is one of those cornball religious thrillers that, for most practical purposes, kind of sucks.

But as much as I want to roll my eyes at it—with its menacing dogs barking outside windows, hallucinations of normal people on the street suddenly having horrific violent wounds, the curious and ever-present villagers staring at our heroine everywhere she turns—the movie had something intriguing going for it that I always love: religious mythology.

That old-time religion has worked in thrillers from The Exorcist to Frailty, to even The Da Vinci Code (at least on paper). Though The Gathering is nowhere near as well-made as the first two films, it does have a twist that will keep those interested in religious mythology interested until the end.

The back of the DVD case describe Christina Ricci's character as an American backpaper, which is already more information than the movie provides. She is rather simply a young woman walking down a road in the English countryside with barely a day-pack slung over one shoulder, and whammo! she gets hit by a car. The frantic woman driving (Kerry Fox) takes the unconscious victim to the hospital, where she eventually wakes up with amnesia and an American accent. She seems to know her name is Cassie, but can't remember why she is in the village, or if she even knows anyone there. The woman takes Cassie home out of guilt, and next thing you know, Cassie is helping out with the kids and basically serving as an au pair for the Kirkman family.

Meanwhile, an ancient church has been unearthed in the nearby rolling hills of Glastonbury (via a gruesome opening-scene accident involving, of course, young lovers). The church is dated to 100 AD, and is thought to be have been built by an actual witness of the crucifiction. A bas-relief of a dozen figures faces the figure of Jesus on the cross, seemingly staring at him... a most unusual depiction according to the religious archaeology expert (Stephen Dillane) and the local priest (Simon Russell Beale). So unusual, in fact, that the Church wants to keep its discovery hush-hush until they can figure out why the church appears to have actually been buried. (Hmmm... I have a bad feeling about this.)

Ricci does her best with a weakly-written role that involves her reacting to lots of dream sequences and apparent hallucinations. She gasps in fright, runs a lot, looks nervous, and hugs small children to protect them. In fact, all the roles are a bit flat, which is too bad considering the talents of Dillane, Fox, and Ioan Gruffudd as a mysterious (and conveniently handsome and understanding) local who befriends Cassie. They try to make the film better than it is.

But it is not the actors, surprisingly, that propelled the film for me. It was the religious mystery. As more and more is figured out about the buried church, via lots of musty old books, paintings, and Biblical references, pieces fall into place one by one. Though I should have seen the conclusion coming from a mile away, I was actually surprised, and thought, "Aaaahhh... cool...." at the end. Despite its cheap thrills, The Gathering turns out to be one of those films that will have you Googling for more information as soon as you pop it out of your DVD player, not just because you wonder how much is true, but also because the DVD frustratingly does not include any extras.