All he has ever known is preaching, prophesying, evangelizing, and exorcising. He is really good at it. Folks are entranced by his preaching and his power. The only problem is, at some point he stopped believing in the God he is preaching. He started out believing, but events in his life led him to a different worldview. But he didn't stop preaching and exorcising. Why? Well, if people believe that their demons are leaving them, and their lives get better, isn't he still doing them a service?

The Last Exorcism tells the fascinating story of the Reverend Cotton Marcus in a documentary fashion. Cotton has asked a crew to follow him on what will be his final exorcism. He no longer believes in God, sure, but that has never stopped him before! So why expose the lie now? Well, Cotton Marcus is probably the most heroic and sympathetic false prophet I've ever seen in a film.

Cotton started reading about children who were hurt during what he considered phony exorcisms. So he decides to document one last fake exorcism and gives a documentary crew a front row seat into his ruse. His logic is that this documentary will keep other kids from being hurt by phony prophets around the world.

Of course, when Cotton and his crew make it out to the Sweetzer farm in order to perform an exorcism on young Nell, nothing goes as planned.

It would be a disservice to the film to talk about any of the details of the plot. But I would say the strength of this film, similar to the success of The Exorcist, is the faith journey of the exorcist himself. As we follow the documentary crew members through their frightening experiences at the Sweetzer farm, we as viewers are constantly asked to decide for ourselves what we should believe in. Who is conning who? Is Nell possessed by the devil? Should the crew just leave this troubled family alone, or does Nell need their help?

The Last Exorcism is a more than worthy entry into the exorcism genre. As a matter of fact, I might even be so bold as to say that it is the best post-Exorcist film of its kind. I highly recommend The Last Exorcism for anyone looking to delve into the spiritual journey of a false prophet and what happens when he must confront his own demons.