The Cleansing - Die Säuberung

This movie is far better than an average rating of mere 4.4. It's a pleasant coincidence that I stumbled upon this movie today. Someone expecting malevolent spirits haunting the village or a teenage witch chanting mantras in the middle of a forest with a candle burning next to a human skull, will be sorely disappointed. It is as much about science and religious dogma as much as it is about not turning the other cheek and let go the perpetrators of evil scot-free.

The movie is a waste of time, boring, absolutely no sense plot, not even a horror film.

I had not heard about the 2019 movie titled "The Cleansing" prior to getting a chance in 2020 to sit down and watch it. I didn't know what the movie was about, all I knew was that it was sort of a horror movie.

And that was actually all that was needed to have me sit down and watch it. However, I must say that the movie was fairly weak in aspect of being a horror movie, but it fared much better on being a historical drama with a hint of susperstition and thriller to it.

Now, you might actually debate whether or not writer David Shillitoe was on to something profound with his storyline and script. I assume that it is something that will not appeal broadly to everyone in the audience, given the movie's sort of low rating. However, I found the storyline to be interesting, especially since it had roots in something that felt like something that might very well actually have happened if you take a look at mankinds history.

I must say that the atmosphere in the movie was phenomenal. I really liked what director Antony Smith did here with the assistance of the cinematographer and the film crew. The whole movie had a very realistic and foreboding atmosphere to it, that sort of crept under the skin and sticks with you for a while.

The movie's pacing might be considered slow to some, and yeah I will admit to it too. There were aspects and parts of the movie that were just too monotonous and too slowed down, weighing the movie unnecessarily down.

As for the acting in "The Cleansing", well it was a movie with a relatively small cast ensemble, so the performers had to be more on constantly and had to carry the movie significantly more with their individual performances. Now, I am not familiar with the previous work of actress Rebecca Acock (playing Alice), but she really had a nice on-screen charisma and carried the lead role quite well.

If you have any interest in witchcraft, superstition and historical aspects of what happened in the older times, then "The Cleansing" is definitely well worth a watch. I enjoyed the movie, and I am rating it a six out of ten stars.

I loved this little low-budget gem and you will too once you get involved with it. It's a bit slow for some folks. The heroine is not real verbose however her face tells more than a bunch of dialog and let's face it, her face is quite alluring. Where was I? On to the movie review. There's a lot of tension because of Tom the reverend not wanting to give up the chase so it's always in the back of your mind about what might happen at any given time. The fellow from Africa gives this a bit of a spin on things even though at first it seems as if Hollywood is trying to inject its usual liberal garbage as you wonder if the next shoe to drop will be Climate Change, but nope, there's a reason. The strange part is the Cleanser himself as you will have to make up your mind whether or not it strains the ending a bit or if it's really worth it. I really liked the ending even it was a bit predictable with all of the gore. Regardless, just grab some popcorn, fasten your seat belt and get set to have a little fun.

It had a really good start to movie. Great story line and a little different from some movies. I love biblical type movies but the middle and end of this movie was horrible. It was extremely slow. The ending wasn't satisfying.