The Covenant
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Supernatural thriller set in a New England boarding prep school about four warlocks (Steven Strait, Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway and Chase Crawford) -- all good-looking descendants of the infamous Salem witches -- who must battle a sinister student (Sebastian Stan) who wants their powers to augment his own magic, while navigating jealousies within their group. Director Renny Harlin keeps things dark and dank, but the moody atmospherics can't disguise a run-of-the-mill script which substitutes schlocky sorcery effects for story and suspense. Some supernatural violence, a few disturbing images, occult elements, rear nudity, sexually suggestive situations and humor, and recurring crude language. A-III -- adults. (PG-13) 2006
Take elements of "Harry Potter," add some "Matrix"-style action sequences, a hip, impossibly good-looking teenage cast and lots of rain and you get director Renny Harlin's slick but vacant supernatural thriller "The Covenant" (Screen Gems).
Set in a New England boarding prep school, the tale centers on four warlocks -- Caleb (Steven Strait), Pogue (Taylor Kitsch), Reid (Toby Hemingway) and Tyler (Chase Crawford) -- all descendants of the infamous Salem witches, whose powers will increase exponentially when they reach magical maturity at age 18, as will the danger of becoming addicted to those powers.
As Caleb's birthday approaches, they navigate jealousies within the group while battling a sinister student, Chase (Sebastian Stan), who wants their powers to augment his own.
The dank atmospherics can't disguise a run-of-the-mill script which substitutes schlocky sorcery effects for story or any real suspense. There are a couple of mildly spooky sequences -- including one in which Caleb's sleeping girlfriend (Sarah Wenham) wakes to find her dorm room infested with spiders -- but overall there's not much scary in the movie.
The film contains some supernatural violence, a few disturbing images, occult elements, rear nudity, sexually suggestive situations and humor, and recurring crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
The following movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.