Directed by:  Rupert Wainwright
Written by:  Tom Lazarus and Rick Ramage
Starring:  Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathon Pryce
 

September 16, 1999

        The pitch for this film must have been The Exorcist meets MTV.  Well, The Exorcist it is not, but the style the director used; all the jumpy, fast moving, shots; gives Stigmata an MTV feeling. Wainwright was a bit pretentious, trying to mimic Oliver Stone.  But unlike Stone’s Natural Born Killers, where this style worked, Stigmata falls short because the story has a major contradiction.
         The story centers around Frankie Paige (Arquette) who is an atheist punk rocker who spends her days as a hair stylist, and her nights clubbing.  We get a glimpse of her love life in the beginning, but her boyfriend quickly disappears.  The only reason is so Father Andrew Kiernan (Bryne) can replace him as a love interest.
         Frankie begins having signs of a stigmata.  Father Andrew explains to her that only deeply religious people come down with one, therefore, he doesn’t believe her.  Therein lies the major contradiction of the film.  In the beginning, a dead priest’s cross is sent to Frankie from her mother.  Then she starts to experience the stigmata.
         So the film sets up the fact that only deeply religious people experience the stigmata, and the main character here is an athiest who experiences one.  How does this spirit or whatever it is which causes the stigmata travel with a cross?  The film neglects to answer this question.
         The true point of the film is a bit intriguing, which doesn’t come through until the end.  But this contradiction is still given no reason, and does not make the film worth seeing.
 

-(Reviewed in Theaters)  On Video-

Recommended Alternatives:  The Exorcist, True Romance (Arquette)

Nominated for
3 Fidelio Film Awards