Dominion: A Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)


Stellan Skarsgard       
Gabriel Mann    
Clara Bellar    
Billy Crawford  
Ralph Brown     
Israel Aduramo  
Andrew French   
Antonie Kamerling       
Julian Wadham   
Eddie Osei      
Ilario Bisi-Pedro

Directed by:            Paul Schrader
Produced by:            Guy McElwaine, James G. Robinson


Three years after a traumatic experience at the end of WWII, Father Lankester Merrin is working as 
an archeologist in British East Africa. His team uncovers an ancient Byzantine church, preserved in 
pristine condition, and buried beneath the church is an ancient crypt that contains the remnants of 
Satanic ritual and brutal sacrifice. The locals are convinced that uncovering the church has unleashed 
a demon, and young Father Francis believes that a boy has been possessed by it. Father Merrin realizes 
that he must try to recover his lost faith if they are to have any hope of overcoming the encroaching 
evil.

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At an archaeological dig in Africa, Father Lankester Merrin has his first encounter with the devil 
incarnate. Merrin has focused on archeology, rather than spiritual matters and is intrigued when a 
church buried beneath the sand is excavated. Inside, he finds many signs of devil worship. To a great 
extent, he has lost his faith and is particularly haunted by events during the Nazi occupation and the 
impact of his decisions had on his parishioners. When the devil occupies the body of a young patient 
in the village hospital, Merrin risks his life to save him.

==========

After one of his men is murdered with a kitchen knife in his back, a Nazi officer gathers all the 
citizens in the small Holland town and orders ten of them to be shot. And he demands that the town's 
priest, Father Merrin, choose which ten. British East Africa, 1947. It's three years later. Father 
Merrin has lost his faith, and his standing in the church is undecided. Merrin has now developed an 
interest in archeology. He is working now on his sixth archeological dig, and this one is by far the 
most fascinating. He's supervising the uncovering of a church that dates from the fifth century in an 
area where there should be no Christian church that old. A woman doctor, a zealous young missionary, 
an overzealous British major and Merrin soon find themselves caught in a battle between good and evil, 
as the dig supernaturally causes a crippled adolescent, shunned by the local tribe, to become possessed 
by a demon.