The Reaping

A lapsed Christian missionary who specializes in debunking “miracles” (Hilary Swank) comes up against something she can’t explain: an apparent recurrence of the Biblical plagues of Egypt in a secluded village in the Louisiana bayous. Perhaps if she’d spent less time studying scripture and tinkering with her microscopes and test tubes, and more time watching cheesy pseudo-religious horror movies, things might have been a little clearer to her. Swank, once more, does more for the movie than it does for her, giving the script (by Chad and Carey W. Hayes, from a story by Brian Rousso) a conviction it hardly deserves. Director Stephen Hopkins moves the action at a reasonable clip while neglecting to provide much suspense or any reasonable scares. David Morrissey and Idris Elba kibitz from the sidelines.