Superstition

The only good thing about this film is the presence of well known acting legends like Charlotte Rampling and less famous actors whose average to good talents cannot rescue a rather poor script. The whole thing feels more like an afternoon TV series than a proper film. The plot is messy and inconclusive. Fires happen around the girl - we are given different suggestions on how to interpret that, but none of those are actually explored at all. Is it deliberate arson, was she acting out of jealousy, was it paranormal activity, or was she in denial? We don't know. The contradictory conclusion of the trial doesn't explain a thing either.

Another thing that doesn't get any sort of proper development is the relationship between the girl and her lawyer. It seems clear a mutual attraction is developing, and the flashbacks (definitely far too many!) he is having of his deceased wife suggest he is struggling to let go of his grief and start a new life, possibly with the girl he is defending, but that's only hinted at very weakly. While Mark Strong manages to add some personality to the lawyer character, the lukewarm performance by the actress playing the girl doesn't give any real clues about her feelings for him. The hints of romance could have turned out all the better for being underplayed, but the acting is not convincing enough even for that.

Finally, the inconsistencies in the plot. I don't expect a lot of realism from a story that exploits some undefined "paranormal" occurrences, but the film can't make up its mind between a pragmatic and a supernatural interpretation. Again, that ambiguity could have been a winning factor, if it had been real, purposeful ambiguity rather than flaws in the plot and character development. During the trial, a dubious expert on the paranormal is brought in to try and support a "fires start around her because she's upset" line of defense that incidentally leads nowhere. How likely is it that any court would accept that as a valid testimony? Charlotte Rampling's character, the nun who was introduced as psychiatrist (why? it's never explained), seems to have no precise role in the story either, except as improvised grief counselor for the defending lawyer.

Even more glaringly inconsistent bits: in Italy a case for murder would never have a trial by jury. The most hilarious logic-defying bit has to be the shot of a double-decker red bus in the English countryside.

This film is a half-baked production that can't even properly explore its main theme - the supersitions about witchcraft could have been brought in a lot more forcefully, whether to debunk them or reinforce them or leave a well-crafted ambiguity, but the script doesn't do any of that, it just starts down all of those paths at the same time without convincingly following any of them. It's a pity, because the original real story this is based on was definitely fascinating material.

After looking at the ratings and other user comments for this film on IMDb i was a bit unsure about purchasing this film. But after watching it i have to say that i was greatly, and pleasantly surprised at how good it was. The film was interesting and intriguing all the way through and i thought that all the roles were played very well, especially Mark Strong and Sienna Guillory, whose stunning acting carried the film very well. I also thought the film had a good ending that concluded it well and left me satisfied with all loose ends. Overall, i'd say that this film is a great watch and i thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end.

This is one of those foreign movies that gets my attention because the characters are mysterious and the setting is the way i like it: European.

The story is intriguing and the ending confirms all suspicions the viewer can have and ends in a deja-vu sort of way, which I guess not a lot of people like because they're used to the Hollywood crap with happy endings and guy keeping the girl after all, well this is not the case, and it is refreshing that these kind of movies are still being made. Even if people still don't understand it, it's something that's nice to the eyes and to the ears.

A mature movie deserves a mature audience, if anyone else differs with my opinion, then there's nothing I can do or even want to do.

Just a quick one to say some of the previous reviewers didn't seem to quite get the full meaning of the plot or script, they might leave you with the impression this film is one of those films where strange things happen without reason and not much makes sense, it isn't, it's actually pretty tight with few inconsistencies, the ending was spot on and satisfying, if a little rushed and predictable. It is debatable if this really could be classed as a horror, it's really more about the characters as the supernatural element is played down, there's no vagueness that some unknown force is at work though as suggested by a previous reviewer, one scene confirms it beyond doubt but I wont give anything away, The acting was very good throughout, especially from Mark Strong, also good to see Charlotte Rampling and David warner turn in good performances.

I'm not a critic and I believe THEY JUST CAN'T ENJOY ANY MOVIE. If you persevere you can find errors even on the CLOUDS!

Me, a simple guy who loves to see movies, can ENJOY them without having to criticize anything, Just "Sit and Watch". Can say I liked the movie... or I didn't... And that's enough.

For everyone belonging to this group, let me tell you, SUPERSTITION is a good movie, with that European feeling... Artistic, interesting, where you actually can use your imagination and be engaged with the story.

The intervention of David Warner (one of my favorite Actors) is a blessing to the cast. The leading roles are very well done and the supporting actors too.

Perhaps the use of a more "Hollywood-Style-use-of-Songs" are something that crashed on my brain, but nothing too serious.

Movies in which a big part of them are spent on the Court room are something many will like from this one, since that's because a paranormal event, the better.

The publicity tries to involve something more "Satanic", but that's wrong... paranormal has nothing to do with it.

Don't try to find something like "The Exorcist"... This one might be considered as: "The X-Files meets Carrie"

As I always say, NEVER back up any critic unless you have seen the movie. A decent effort well done.

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