STIGMATA

A young woman finds herself at the center of strange events: her body is tormented by strange wounds without her or anyone else inflicting them, and she is often struck by strange spasms similar to epileptic seizures at the end of which she remembers nothing. The girl decides to entrust herself to medical care, which however seems to have no effect. Meanwhile, due to an article in the newspaper, her case begins to arouse interest in public opinion, so the curia decides to send a priest, specialized in the study of paranormal phenomena, to investigate the matter. The father immediately understands that he is facing a case of possession, different from the others, in fact here it seems that the Devil has nothing to do with it... so what is the spirit that possesses the body of the poor woman? Apart from some inevitable tributes that the film must pay to Friedkin's masterpiece "The Exorcist" and the usual scontatissimo happy end "Stigmata" remains certainly a good film. Engaging and in some points even terrifying, it has its strong points in the two excellent protagonists, Patricia Arquette ("Lost Highway", "Bringing Out the Dead") and Gabriel Byrne ("The Usual Suspects", "End of Days") and in the excellent photography of Anthony Stabley who, thanks to a special effect called "salto della sbianca", slightly alters the colors, giving more intensity to the white and black tones, creating the impression that the film was shot with little natural light and thus accentuating the mysterious atmosphere of the story. A frantic montage in pure videoclip style and a particularly inspired direction do the rest. Highly recommended.