Cut Above the Rite Page #3

---

[WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY]

LUCAS:
Has it told you its name yet?

Do you know its name?

Tell me its name.

Tell me now.

[LUCAS SPEAKING IN LATIN]

[CELL PHONE RINGING]

[SPEAKS IN ITALIAN]

[MICHAEL SPEAKING IN LATIN]

LUCAS [IN ITALIAN]: I can't talk now,

I'm in the middle of something.

[ROSARIA GRUNTING]

[LUCAS SPEAKING IN LATIN]

ROSARIA [IN ITALIAN]: Shut up, shut up.

Shut up, priest.

You must not touch me.

You are disgusting.

Keep your dirty hands off me.

Shut up! You must not speak.

Don't touch me!

Go away, priest. Go away!

You stink, you are disgusting.

Rosaria.

Rosaria.

Open your mouth.

[LUCAS SPEAKS IN ITALIAN]

How do you feel?

[SPEAKS IN ITALIAN]

Okay, that's it.

MICHAEL:
Really? That's it?

Well, what'd you expect?

Spinning heads, pea soup?

Spiritual liberation can take months,

sometimes years.

So she's still possessed?

Yeah.

I know you don't believe me, but....

Tell me...

...does a thief or a burglar turn on the

lights when he's robbing your house? No.

He prefers you to believe

that he's not there.

Like the devil. He prefers you

to believe that he doesn't exist.

It gets complicated when no proof of

the devil is somehow proof of the devil.

Yeah.

The interesting thing

about skeptics, atheists...

...is that we're always looking

for proof, certainty.

The question is, what on earth

would we do if we found it?

-"We"?

-Oh, yes.

There are times when I experience

a total loss of faith.

Days, months when I don't know

what the hell I believe in.

God or the devil,

Santa Claus or Tinker Bell.

But...

...you know, I'm just a man.

I'm a weak man. I have...

...no power.

Yet there's something that keeps

digging and scraping away inside me.

Feels like God's fingernail.

And finally I can take

no more of the pain...

...and I get shoved out

from the darkness...

...back into the light.

Something like that.

[SPEAKS IN LATIN]

Anyway, enough philosophizing

for one day.

If you have any more questions,

you know where to find me.

I got my eye on you. What you doing?

[CHATTERING]

[SPEAKING IN ITALIAN]

[HORNS HONKING]

You're in Rome and you go to McDonald's?

Oh, hey.

Come on. Let me buy you

an Italian coffee.

ANGELINA:
Where were you today?

Xavier kicked you out, didn't he?

Yeah, I've plea-bargained down

from being burned at the stake.

So you're just vacationing now

on the Church's dime?

Yeah, and yours.

Seriously, why are you taking the course?

Why are you?

Are they recruiting nuns for exorcists?

"Nuns"?

I'm sorry, I just naturally assumed....

Yeah, naturally.

Well, if you're not a nun,

why are you taking the course?

I'm a journalist. I'm covering

the course for an article.

I see. And I thought

you were just buying me a coffee.

There's a lot of interest in this.

A lot of debate.

Look...

...I know you saw Father Lucas today.

I've been trying to get an interview

with him, but he's been reluctant.

What is it you want?

-I'd love to know what you saw.

-You're asking me to spy?

No, I'm asking you to report

your own experiences.

Listen...

...I'm just interested in the truth.

Seems like you are too.

XAVIER:
Just as there is a hierarchy

of angels, ranked in ascendant order...

...so, too, is the realm of evil ranked.

And just as each angel has a name...

...so, too, does every demon.

Beelzebub, Leviathan, Ba'al.

These are some of the names

we look for...

...when performing an exorcism.

[PEOPLE GASPING]

Just bear with me for a moment.

Well, I think we should leave it there

and pick it up tomorrow. Thank you.

Michael, how's my old friend Lucas?

MICHAEL:
He's unorthodox.

XAVIER:
No exorcism is orthodox.

MICHAEL:
He's treating a pregnant girl

that I believe needs psychiatric care.

XAVIER:
You believe?

Father Lucas has been doing this

longer than anyone I know.

MICHAEL:

I'm telling you because I'm concerned.

It's not uncommon...

...to be overly concerned for the subject

in one's first exorcism.

You have to see that

it is the demon that's in pain.

Trust me. Father Lucas gets results.

At what cost?

[KNOCKING]

Oh. What can I do for you?

LUCAS:
Rosaria.

[IN ITALIAN] You remember this man?

He was sent by the Vatican.

I want you to answer his questions.

Hi.

It was terrible to see you

go through your suffering.

This is unimportant. Just nod.

MICHAEL:
Do you remember any of it?

He wants to know if you remember things

when the devil takes over your body.

[SPEAKING IN ITALIAN]

it's like a dream or a nightmare.

MICHAEL:
This is yours, yes?

[MICHAEL SPEAKS IN ITALIAN]

Do you know how it got in my pocket?

[IN ITALIAN]

Did you put it in his pocket?

Tell the truth now.

It wasn't me.

LUCAS:
Then who was it?

Rosaria, who was it?

[SPEAKING IN ITALIAN]

MICHAEL:
The devil?

-She's 16.

-Yes.

And she's pregnant.

Who's the father of her child?

She won't say.

Ask her who gave her

the bracelet, please.

[LUCAS SPEAKS IN ITALIAN]

MICHAEL:
And where is he now?

LUCAS:
He's gone away. He left the family.

MICHAEL:
When?

LUCAS:
Oh, I don't know.

A few months ago, I believe.

-What are you doing?

-I'm giving it back to her.

[MICHAEL SPEAKING IN ITALIAN]

[LUCAS SPEAKING IN LATIN]

[GASPING AND GRUNTING]

Remember the fat little b*tch?

Killed herself.

She says to say hello.

Hell-o.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

name yourself.

[ROSARIA WHISTLING]

In the name of Jesus Christ,

name yourself.

By the authority of Jesus Christ,

I command you to declare yourself!

By the authority of Jesus Christ,

I command you to declare yourself now!

ROSARIA [IN ITALIAN]:

We are the fruit of her womb.

Speak the truth, in the name

of Jesus Christ.

Speak the truth, in the name

of Jesus Christ.

We're strong in the Lord

and the power of his might!

ROSARIA:
In the name of Judas Cross.

Demon, name yourself.

Your name, demon! Your name!

Tremble before the Lord!

We're strong in the Lord

and the power of his might!

Now!

By the authority of Jesus Christ,

I command you to--

Hold her!

Help me. Help me.

MICHAEL:
Hail Mary, full of grace.

The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women....

[ROSARIA GRUNTING AND SCREAMING]

[LUCAS SPEAKING IN LATIN]

LUCAS:
He that dwelleth

in the secret place of the Most High...

...shall abide under the shadow

of the Almighty. He is my refuge...

...my fortress and my strength.

He shall deliver thee

from the snare of the fowler....

Rape me.

--my fortress and my strength.

Lickety-split.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror

by night, nor for the arrow...

...nor for the destruction that wasteth.

A thousand shall fall...

...and 10,000 at thy right hand....

ROSARIA [IN NORMAL VOICE IN ITALIAN]:

Father, please.

Don't let it hurt my baby.

They shall bear thee up in their hands,

lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

[LUCAS SPEAKING IN LATIN]

Take it out!

Sh*t it out and eat it!

LUCAS:
Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes