“A run-of-the-mill chiller that spends an inordinate amount of time flirting with unconventional scare tactics before sacrificing all of its ingenuity to become the latest in a long line of The Exorcist clones." Sean O’Connell, Washington Post

“The question this exorcism potboiler really raises isn’t what’s possessing the supposed victims, but what possessed a great actor like Anthony Hopkins to accept a role in such schlock.” Frank Swietek, One Guy’s Opinion

“Dave Whitehead’s sound design fills the production with ominous whooshings that sometimes overwhelm the dialogue, not that the dialogue doesn’t deserve it.” Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

“As Hopkins himself goes wild-eyed and FX-ed with popping veins, The Rite gives up on asking us to take it seriously.” Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

“The Rite commits the supreme sin of making the devil dull.” Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

“Kudos to The Rite for thinking outside the usual goat/pentagram/black-candles box for its satanic imagery, but is a mule really the best it could manage?” Keith Phipps, The Onion A.V. Club