A totally original concept...

Could'nt agree more. Great movie.

"Why would the other members of the Gathering not free themselves by stopping these tragedies. It just doesn't make sense."

The others just didn't realize that they can try to stop any tragedy as Dan puts it "You can't stop it from happening". Well, you can't, but at least you can try and thats what Ricci's character did. She took that second chance to try to do something about a tragedy from happening and she was freed from that eternal damnation. Just creeps me out when I think about the whole thing. Whew!


"Deserve's got nothin' to do with it." - William Munny

Christian-themed thrillers usually disappoint me, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to watch them. I loved the idea of finding a church erected by Joseph of Arimathea, witness of the Crucifixion, but agree that it wasn't taken far enough. And I can tell you, as a student of early Christian art, that a first-century church wouldn't have looked like that. In fact, there's not really any such thing as a first-century church, since Christ's early followers met in each other's homes. Also, they believed that the world would end shortly (they thought that when Christ spoke of his return on Judgment Day, he was referring to a not-so-distant future in their lifetime), so why bother building a church for posterity?

That aside, I did really like the concept of punishing indifference and complacency. As a Catholic, I learned that it is a sin worse than cruelty or malice, and I believe that it's one we're more prone to commit. I think that the other Gatherers were unwilling to see that they could intervene to prevent tragedies, because they were so mired in a habit of complacency. I thought that was a great comment on human nature. We often tell ourselves that we're powerless when confronted with horrible things, because we're too afraid to act. But even if we are powerless, we're obligated to speak out against wrongs and injustices. And Cassie does say at the end that she should have at least cried out against what was happening at the Crucifixion.

So, although the movie itself wasn't great, I did enjoy it for its provocative concept.

There was a point made she was an innocent girl that saw it by accident so in a sense she could be redeemed but the others came to watch out of morbid curiousity and were lost souls.

I thought it was great right up until the scene where she explains everything and gives it a happy ending. Cut those two minutes out and it's 10X the movie. It had a nice dark gothic feel to it until then and suddenly it couldn't resist going hollywood. I hate it when films pull the punch. I really hated the cheesy optical on the stone face. That really spiked the ball. Well worth seeing but at 1:19 turn it off and you'll be happier.

Actually, the theme is based on a legend known as the Wandering Jew.

"All in all, a very original concept that could have been taken much farther. Ricci's character was freed of her prison because she helped deter a killing. Why would the other members of the Gathering not free themselves by stopping these tragedies. It just doesn't make sense."

As Iaon (I think his name is Dan in the movie) he thought there was nothing they could do to stop the next tragedy. Cassie was the first one to try and/or the first to succeed.

"It's better to be hated for who you are than be loved for who you aren't."

I just wanted to throw this in here. This movie's basic plot is not original at all. They simply threw in the god-factor. The concept was actually brought out in a much better film called " Timescape " With Jeff Daniels. This movie while not the worst I have seen had some pretty horrible acting in it. The original story for this idea, albeit not the first one, was called Vintage Season.

I found Jesus! He was behind the couch the whole time!