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All of these questions are answered by the time the credits roll. Carter and longtime collaborator Frank Spotnitz should be applauded for designing a simpler, more accessible movie. It's the most conservative summer action movie in decades—lacking explosions and digital effects, it looks like a film that could have been made twenty years ago.

He wants to believe. Really, he does.

But the filmmakers' admirable restraint is not enough to recommend it. There's just not much to enjoy here. Sure, it's a pleasure to see Mulder and Scully together again and to hear Mark Snow's spooky theme music. But the film's occasional sweetness is soured by the mystery's ugliness and the movie's grotesque (and anticlimactic) finale. Since The X-Files began, moviegoers have seen countless serial-killer thrillers, psychotic killers of every size and shape, and more grisly crime scenes than any homicide detective sees in a lifetime. I Want to Believe wants to sit on the shelf alongside thoughtful thrillers like The Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, and even Dirty Pretty Things. But where it should be scary, it's only shocking; where it should be inventive, it's all too familiar. When we finally see the truth of these horrific crimes, well—keep Kleenex handy, because your eyes might start bleeding too.

If anything, this production should have been televised. There's nothing here that deserves the big screen. Wait, I take that back. The radiant Gillian Anderson brings such subtlety, nuance, and intelligence to the material that it's like she's in a different movie altogether. She's the beating heart of the film, full of warmth and emotion and compelling conflict. But Scully is surrounded by flat, undeveloped characters who never really earn our affection or respect.

To their credit, Carter and Spotnitz take Father Joe seriously enough to consider the possibility of God's forgiveness for his heinous crimes. And as Scully's spiritual journey progresses through questions about forgiveness, faith, and reason, only this repentant priest offers meaningful counsel: "Don't give up."

But Joe's character deserved more detail and attention. We don't learn much about him. And as both he and the other religious figure in the film, the unpleasant Father Ybarra (Adam Godley) who works with Scully at the hospital, are both suspicious characters, moviegoers are likely to walk away with the impression that Catholics are creepy. The film's general disapproval of faithful Christians becomes even more obvious during the film's closing moments. As Scully tries to decide between active hope and a fearful surrender, Father Ybarra and other Christians stand by scowling, making it clear they'd rather she gave up.

Nevertheless, X-Files fans should leave the theater with Father Joe's counsel in mind—"Don't give up." Mulder and Scully are alive to continue exploring that mysterious territory between truths we can prove, and spiritual Truth that's still "out there." Perhaps they needn't "fight the future" after all. They look ready to take on grand new adventures, and if Carter and Co. can cook up some good stories, the franchise might be worth revisiting. Is it possible?

You knew I was going to say this: I want to believe!

Talk About It

1. Compare and contrast Mulder and Scully's views of the world. Who has a greater grasp of "the truth"? What do they both need to learn?
2. What did you think of Father Joe? Do you think he can be forgiven for his crimes? Does he seem genuinely repentant?
3. Do you believe in psychic phenomena like Father Joe's visions? Has God ever used visions and dreams to communicate with people?
4. What do you think of the closing scene in the hospital. Is the scientist being brave and noble? Do the protestors have valid concerns?

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