The Covenant (2006 film)

The Covenant
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Renny Harlin
Written by	J. S. Cardone
Produced by	Gary Lucchesi Tom Rosenberg
Starring	Steven Strait Taylor Kitsch Toby Hemingway Chace Crawford Sebastian Stan
Cinematography	Pierre Gill
Edited by	Nicolas de Toth
Music by	tomandandy
Distributed by	Screen Gems
Release date	September 8, 2006 (2006-09-08)
Running time	97 minutes
Countries	United States Canada
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$37.6 million

The Covenant is a 2006 American action supernatural horror thriller film written by J. S. Cardone, directed by Renny Harlin, and starring Steven Strait, Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford, Sebastian Stan, Laura Ramsey, and Jessica Lucas. The film, despite receiving very negative reviews, was a moderate box office success.

Plot

In the town of Ipswich, four popular teenage boys – Caleb, Pogue, Reid, and Tyler, collectively known as the "Sons of Ipswich" – are descendants of colonial witch families, and possess magical powers. Upon reaching age 18, they will "ascend", and their magic will become vastly more powerful. In return, it will also bind to their lifespan, and usage makes them age more rapidly. The Sons, well versed in those facts, remain mostly carefree. Only Caleb – the closest to his eighteenth birthday – exercises caution. At a local beach party, they meet new transfer students Sarah and Chase.

Supernatural occurrences of unknown source begin happening, unsettling Caleb. He suspects Reid, the most reckless of the four, to be the culprit; Reid angrily denies involvement. Though Sarah receives the brunt of paranormal harassment, Caleb and later Pogue see a "darkling," a dead spirit and malicious omen. Meanwhile, Caleb and Sarah quickly become romantically close. During a swim race, Caleb notices Chase, who had befriended the group, displaying magic usage. After researching, Caleb concludes that Chase belongs to a fifth family, one believed long extinct, and that he is the true perpetrator. As the Sons discuss this revelation, Pogue learns that his girlfriend was rendered comatose by a spell. Enraged, he hastily challenges Chase, who swiftly hospitalizes him.

Caleb visits Sarah only to fall into Chase's trap. Chase reveals that he was unaware of his magic’s origin, having been adopted. After locating his biological father, he learned of the price for ascension; but it was too late and he has become too addicted to using magic. His birth father then transferred power to him. Chase wants to force other "ascended" witches to transfer power to him as well, starting with Caleb. Despite Caleb's warning that having more power does not save him from aging to death, Chase ignores him. Before leaving, Chase threatens harm on Caleb's family and friends if he does not get what he wants. Caleb reveals the truth to Sarah and takes her to his father, a man of forty-four years with a decrepit old body, exhausted from magic abuse. When Sarah suggests that one of the other three transfer their power to Caleb so he could evenly match Chase, Caleb immediately refuses, explaining that doing so will cost them their lives.

On the night of Caleb’s eighteenth birthday, he leaves to face Chase alone, and has Reid and Tyler safeguard Sarah in public. However, Chase easily kidnaps Sarah. At an old barn, the two confront each other. Chase reveals a spellbound Sarah and gives Caleb an ultimatum of his life for hers. Caleb declares he won’t will his power away or let Sarah come to harm. They duel and Caleb is clearly outmatched. At the exact minute of his birth, he ascends, and his power fully matures, which allows him to mount an offensive. However, as Chase has more than one magical share, he still proves superior and the temporary turn of tide does not last long. Back at home, Evelyn, Caleb's mother, begs her husband save Caleb. He sacrifices himself and transfer power remotely to his son. Once his father’s power is infused within him, Caleb hits Chase with a final blow that engulfs him in a ball of flame. Sarah, Kate, and Pogue awaken, freed from their curses.

Firefighters arrive on the scene. Caleb and Sarah wait until inspection of the barn’s wreckage is complete; they are informed that a third person was not found, suggesting Chase somehow survived and escaped. The pair get into Caleb’s car, and he casually uses magic to fix the busted windshield, which seems visibly unsettling to Sarah. He reassuringly holds her hand, and they drive off.

Powers

The Sons of Ipswich possess a variety of supernatural abilities, including various types of kinesis:

• Psychokinesis – The power to move or levitate objects without touching them, also called telekinesis.
• Pyrokinesis – The power to control fire and heat.
• Aerokinesis – The power to control air and wind.
• Atmokinesis – The power to influence the weather, particularly to make it rain or to summon storms and lightning.
• Levitation – The power to defy gravity and hover or maneuver freely in the air or even fly.
• Astral Projection – The power to project one's consciousness and senses beyond and away from the physical body.
• Superhuman Strength – Increasing one's physical strength to above-human performance.
• Shapeshifting – The ability to change one's physical appearance and voice to appear as another person.
• Teleportation – The power to instantaneously disappear from one place and reappear in another.
• Clairvoyance – The power to see things that are invisible, such as the creatures known as 'darklings'.
• Other spells to damage, or protect self from physical damage.
• The fifth son had control over spiders and could cast other damaging spells through them.

Cast

• Steven Strait as Caleb Danvers
• Taylor Kitsch as Pogue Parry
• Toby Hemingway as Reid Garwin
• Chace Crawford as Tyler Simms
• Sebastian Stan as Chase Collins
• Laura Ramsey as Sarah Wenham
• Sarah Smyth as Kira Snider
• Jessica Lucas as Kate Tunney
• Kyle Schmid as Aaron Abbot
• Wendy Crewson as Evelyn Danvers
• Stephen McHattie as William Danvers III
• Kenneth Welsh as Provost Higgins
• Jon McLaren as Bordy Becklin

Release

Despite the popular misconception, The Covenant is not based on a comic book title nor any other book. The confusion comes from the fact Sony released a comic book of the same name written by Aron Coleite created for the purposes of promoting the film. Neither the authors of the comic-book miniseries nor Top Cow Comics is mentioned in the films’ credit sequences, so the comic-book miniseries is not regarded as source material by The Covenant's producers. In fact, the film originated from a spec script and went through a number of drafts, by different writers, before J.S. Cardone eventually submitted the final draft. Cardone received sole screenwriting credit.

Reception

The Covenant received extremely negative reviews from critics, getting a 3% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's consensus stating "The Covenant plays out like a teen soap opera, full of pretty faces, wooden acting, laughable dialogue, and little suspense." It also holds its place on the site's "Worst of the Worst", ranking 31st. The film received a 19/100 on Metacritic, indicating "overwhelming dislike". The film has gone on to develop a cult following, some noting its homoerotic undertones.

Box office

Upon its release in the United States, the film still managed to top the box office charts with a $8.9 million opening on what was called a "weak" weekend. As of October 15, 2006, The Covenant has earned $23,292,105 in the U.S. ($37,256,954 internationally). The film cost roughly $20 million to produce, not including marketing.

Home media

The Covenant was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 2, 2007. It went on to sell 1,618,891 units which translated to revenue of $26,578,576.

External links

• Official website
• The Covenant at IMDb
• The Covenant at Box Office Mojo
• The Covenant at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Covenant at Metacritic