September 9, 2007 – 12:52 pm
Michele and I just watched a movie called The Last Sin Eater. Michele didn’t know it when she put it in our Blockbuster queue, and we didn’t know it when we decided to watch it, but we were in for quite a surprise.
The synopsis sounds interesting enough:
Michael Landon Jr. directs this period drama set in 1850s Appalachia and concerning a young girl who carries a crushing burden. Ten-year-old Cadi Forbes’ (Liana Liberato) sister has died as the result of a tragic accident, and now the surviving sibling can’t help feeling somewhat responsible for her sister’s untimely death. Desperate to shake the guilt she feels and absolve her dearly departed kin from her Earthly sins, Cadi seeks out the assistance of the one person rumored to have the power of achieving both goals — the mysterious Sin Eater
I love a well made period movie. And come on, it’s about “the mysterious Sin Eater”. Who wouldn’t be interested? I’ll tell you who. Anyone who knew what the movie was actually about.
The movie started off well enough. It wasn’t a hit by any means, but we weren’t eager to turn it off or take smoke breaks every 20 minutes. And I say we watched it, but when we got to the plot “twist” we both looked at each other and I immediately hit stop on the DVD player. So we never actually finished it. We were both officially too creeped out to watch another minute of this movie.
The Last Sin Eater isn’t the usual Poltergeist or The Hills Have Eyes kind of creepy, or even a Sixth Sense creepy. If you never plan to watch this movie, and trust me you don’t want to watch it, then keep reading. Otherwise, there are spoilers ahead.
As I said before, the movie started off fairly well. Cadi’s grandmother passes away and we see the rare and ancient spectacle of the Sin Eater’s ritual. The family of the deceased ring the “passing bell” and the entire community turns out for the occasion. The body of the deceased is carried to the local graveyard and an offering is placed on the chest, then every turns their back while the Sin Eater materializes from the forest and removes all sin from it.
Cadi had been warned not to gaze upon the Sin Eater, as he has sold himself to the devil in return for everyone else’s sins (which he is now filled with) and he will kill anyone who looks at him. Of course, she can’t help but turn and look.
Realizing that the Sin Eater would not actually kill her, Cadi seeks out the Sin Eater to remove her own sins. In doing so, she crosses path with a “stranger” who has mysteriously appeared in her remote mountain community. She hides in the bushes near his campsite and we find that he has come to the mountains in lieu of a terrible evil that he has apparently sensed there. We see him pacing back and forth along the riverside, an old, thick, leather bound bible in hand, exclaiming to his lord that he means to cleanse the area of the evil.
At one point, Cadi is spotted talking to the stranger by one of the community men and told that it is her fault that the unwelcome guest is here in the first place and if she meets with him again she will be severely punished.
With a little help from an elderly lady of the community, Cadi finally tracks down the Sin Eater and convinces him to perform the sin eating ritual on her, even though she is not dead. The ritual is performed, yet Cadi doesn’t feel any different. She is still plagued by her sins. Distraught, she runs off.
Disobedient as ever, Cadi of course meets with the stranger again and tells him of her woes. She describes the accident that led to her sister’s death and how this is the sin she is trying to rid herself of.
This is where the film reveals it’s true hidden design to us. The last part of the synopsis:
Only after discovering the truth about Jesus Christ and the human condition does Cadi realize that there is only one man capable of providing absolution of sin, and the word of that man can only be found in the Holy Bible.
That’s right. The stranger explains to Cadi that there is only one true sin eater and that he died for all of our sins a long time ago. Cadi asks how she can request forgiveness from the true sin eater and the stranger exclaims that she just has! All of her earthly sins are now washed away and she can live her life in peace!
Cadi runs off to tell everyone that “it’s gone!” and “it feels better now!” She is finally free from her sins. She runs to the elderly lady who helped her find the other Sin Eater and tells her the whole story about Jesus.
The elderly lady (who must be in her 70’s) immediately casts aside the ancient beliefs of her people without blinking and demands that Cadi introduce her to the stranger since she won’t be alive much longer and she has her fair share of sins to be eaten as well.
STOP
Yep. I can’t describe the rest of the movie because we refused to watch another minute of it at this point. To assume that these Welsh immigrants living in the 1850’s had never heard of Christianity is absurd. Then to assume that they would cast aside their own ancient rituals just like that and embrace Jesus as their new Sin Eater is absolutely ridiculous. What a crock.
I must say though that there were warning signs. It was adapted for the screen by Michael Landon Jr. (son of Little House on the Prairie’s Michael Landon) from a novel by Francine Rivers (a born-again Christian author).
There’s also that last sentence of the synopsis that could have saved us (no pun intended) had either of us read it. Then there was the DVD menu screen which featured a glowing, pastel painted image of Cadi running through a field of flowers to meet her mother’s embrace. The same image is also the DVD cover, but we got this movie through our Blockbuster online account so we didn’t have that advantage on our side.
The most obvious sign of all is the movie’s tagline:
A little girl’s quest for redemption uncovers a dark secret… and the truth shall set her free.
Right. The Last Sin Eater is a cleverly veiled Christian crusade. Unless you are already a Christian or you are open to being converted, I recommend that you avoid watching this movie at all costs.
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