Continuity mistake: When the lawyer, Laura, is in her room in two scenes, one of which is when she checks on a letter almost at the end of the film, her hair is lighter than the rest of the movie, where her hair is noticeably darker.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
Plot summary
Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Tom Wilkinson, Laura Linney, Campbell Scott, Jennifer Carpenter, Shohreh Aghdashloo
A young girl (Jennifer Carpenter) dies under the care of her parish priest (Tom Wilkinson). While attending college, Emily believed she became possessed. After medical care ceases to work, she turned to her faith. In the care of her priest she dies and he goes on trial for her death. He is represented by a career-minded and driven lawyer (Laura Linney) who does not believe in God. Thus is the story of Emily Rose, told by those in the trial and the priest who watched her through her possession.
More mistakes in The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Karl Gunderson: Are you drunk?
Erin Bruner: Not yet. But I'm working on it.
Question: At the end of the movie, Emily is greeted by the Virgin Mary who gives Emily a choice. She can either ascend to heaven or remain on earth and become a martyr to prove that God and demons are real. Emily chooses to become a martyr and shortly after dies. How is her death supposed to prove that God and demons exist when Ethan came up with so many logical explanations for her demonic attacks? For that matter, how would she be able to tell people that God and demons are real if she isn't even alive?
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: You seem to have missed the point. It boils down to what Emily believed, not anything Ethan manages to explain away. In her written letter the priest reads in court she explains that she believes people would have to believe in God if she showed them the Devil. The logic goes like this: if someone sees or experiences something so horrible that they have to believe the Devil exists, then there has to be a God as well. It's about getting people to embrace faith, which was her ultimate goal. She wasn't concerned with anyone potentially finding evidence to the contrary. She believed that she had to suffer greatly and die in order to achieve the goal, which is the essence of martyrdom. Whether she suffered from mental illness or demonic possession is irrelevant in the end. Emily believed that she did her part to prove God exists when she died and that was all that mattered to her. As for her telling anyone despite her being dead, well, there were witnesses to the attacks and her story was national news. Her story would live on after her death, so in a way she'd be telling anyone that looks into her story.
dewinela