A new movie promises to tell the story of an exorcism performed by Catholic priests in the United States. Based on true events, the film is about helping vulnerable people, according to the writer and director.
“It’s a story of a group of people who come together and put themselves at really great personal risk and have to summon up a lot of bravery and courage in order to help a woman who is really suffering,” David Midell, writer and director of “The Ritual,” said.
Midell spoke with Our Sunday Visitor about his latest film, which hits theaters nationwide June 6. The movie follows the well-documented exorcism of Emma Schmidt, also known as “Anna Ecklund,” that took place at a convent in Earling, Iowa, in 1928. The one hour, 38-minute film boasts an all-star cast that includes Al Pacino, Dan Stevens, Ashley Greene, Abigail Cowen and Patricia Heaton.
The movie was filmed at Saint Mary Basilica in Natchez, Mississippi, with the support of the rector, Father Aaron Williams, and the local diocese, the Diocese of Jackson. Father Williams also served as a consultant on set.
On the film’s website, interested viewers can learn more about the true story. The website links to a famous pamphlet written by a priest containing eyewitness accounts of Schmidt’s exorcism (the 1973 film “The Exorcist” and the book that inspired it were partially based on this same pamphlet). It also provides photos of Schmidt and the priests involved in the exorcism, Father Theophilus Riesinger, O.F.M. Cap., and Father Joseph Steiger, a pastor.
The website also includes articles about the exorcism from newspapers and Time magazine and links to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ online page about exorcism and the Archdiocese of Washington’s procedures for requesting an exorcism.
A film years in the making
Midell said that this film, like all of his films, deals with “fundamental questions about how human beings treat the most vulnerable people around them.”
The idea for the movie began in 2019, he said, when he and his writing partner, Enrico Natale, were looking at “notable stories in history, true stories of spiritual events in history that had a spiritual dimension to them.”
This one, he said, stood out to them.
“We were really surprised that a film hadn’t already been made about this story because it’s such an incredible story just unto itself,” he said. “It’s kind of made it into the history books as one of the most well documented and highly publicized exorcisms in American history, certainly, probably around the world as well.”
He delved into researching the story, finding articles, books and even a couple of short documentaries. He and Natale spent years developing the story before shooting began in early 2024.
The telling of a true story
Midell said that movies based on true events always take a certain amount of dramatic license. For “The Ritual,” the filmmakers took this responsibility seriously.
“You’re telling the stories of real human beings, you’re using many of their real names, and so there is an added responsibility to do justice to their lives and their experience,” he said.
“The broad strokes of it are all very accurate and honest,” he said of the film. “What we really try to do is stay true to the spirit of what happened.”
Midell, who was raised Jewish, said that the film brought together a “great diversity of backgrounds,” including many Catholics who worked on the cast and crew.
“I really learned a lot and developed a huge respect for some of the traditions and the customs and the rituals that are involved in Catholicism that I hadn’t been aware of before,” he said.
Catholic consultants
One Catholic who stars in the film is Patricia Heaton, whose biological sister is a religious sister, he said. Heaton contributed to the film and gave the filmmakers useful information about protocol at convents at the time the exorcism took place.
He called it “hugely beneficial” to have Catholics involved because they wanted the film to have that sense of authenticity.
Midell recognized the contributions of Father Williams, who consulted the filmmakers on various traditions, customs and protocols and even blessed the set.
“Because we’re dealing with some spiritual subject matter,” Midell said. “He came in and blessed the set a handful of times, which was very nice of him.”
The basilica rector, Midell added, “gave me a lot more confidence in what we were doing because I knew that what we were doing was going to be honest and respectful.”
He called the Diocese of Jackson supportive and helpful, even with helping them source some props and costume items.
A deeper dive
In the film, which clarifies that medical doctors have examined Schmidt, Midell explores the relationship between the psychological and the spiritual.
“One of the really important things to me was that a part of the film is a debate between some of the characters,” he said. “Between is this a psychological ailment or is there a spiritual element too? Is it a mixture of both?”
He called this an important element of the film to get right, including on a personal level.
“I am on the autism spectrum myself, so I’ve been involved in the mental health field for a very long time — I’ve worked with individuals with mental health challenges and psychiatric issues,” he said. “It was definitely an important thing for me to make sure that we were showing respect to both perspectives.”
A special message
He spoke about what he hopes viewers take away from the film.
“The way I’ve always seen it — and what was fascinating to me about it and what really captured my imagination about it — was the courage and bravery that would have been required from these women and these men,” he said, referring to the two priests and the religious sisters involved in the exorcism. “The incredible risk that they were taking to try to help this woman who was really suffering.”
“That’s really, I think, what I would hope people would take away from it, more than anything else,” he added. “Going back to that same question about what are we — or what are people — willing to do to help vulnerable people around them?”
