The Covenant is a 2006 supernatural thriller film directed by Renny Harlin and written by J. S. Cardone.
Plot Summary
In 1692, in the Ipswich Colony of Massachusetts, five families with magical abilities, referred to as "the Power", form a covenant of silence to protect themselves from persecution. Four of the five bloodlines survive to this day; one family, lusting for more power, was banished, their bloodline disappearing without a trace until now.
The Covenant tells the story of the Sons of Ipswich, four young students at the elite Spencer Academy who are bound by their sacred ancestry. As descendants of the original families that settled in Ipswich Colony in the 1600s, the boys have all been given amazing supernatural powers.
But their ability to shape-shift, defy gravity and perform superhuman feats of strength comes at a terrible cost: every time one of the Sons of Ipswich uses his magical powers, he ages prematurely, and the temptation to abuse the power makes it more addictive than any drug. What's more, life is only going to get harder for the young friends; they are given a taste of the Power at age thirteen. Then at the moment each boy turns 18, he will "ascend," gaining far more potent—and addictive—powers.
With Caleb's birthday just a few days away, his mother Evelyn (Wendy Crewson) is terrified her son will find it impossible to resist the lure of power like his father before him. Caleb assures her he'll be able to handle his new abilities. But will he really? And what if he needs his power to fight an evil force that threatens everything he loves?
As the new school year begins at Spencer Academy, students have gathered for a wild outdoor party to mark the end of summer. Hundreds of feet above the gyrating bodies, Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait) and his three best friends - Pogue Parry (Taylor Kitsch), Reid Garwin (Toby Hemingway) and Tyler Simms (Chace Crawford) walk to the edge of a dizzying precipice and drop unseen and unscathed before casually joining the fray. At the party, gorgeous newcomer Sarah Wenham (Laura Ramsey) is introduced to the boys by her equally stunning roommate Kate (Jessica Lucas). The girls also meet an intriguing transfer student named Chase Collins (Sebastian Stan), who quickly ingratiates himself into the group.
When the police arrive to disperse the partiers, they discover the body of a student, dead of an apparent drug overdose. The school headmaster (Kenneth Welsh) immediately suspects Caleb and his friends are somehow involved. Meanwhile, as Sarah, a former Boston public-school student, tries to adjust to dorm life at the elite prep school, she can't shake the creepy feeling that someone—or something—is watching her every move. Sarah takes a shower after the outdoor party, only that a light bulb breaks and someone/something may be behind her. She sees Reid and they check out the showers, but not finding anything, Sarah head back to her dorm, clearly shaken up.
During a swim race, Caleb notices Chase's eyes blacken - a clear sign that he's using - and becomes so intrigued that he slams his head into the pool wall, knocking himself unconcious for a few moments. Letting the rest of the Covenant know of his discovery, Caleb along with Pogue search for Chase's files in the school offices, only to find that Chase was in fact adopted, his adoptive parents were killed in a car accident on his eighteenth birthday, and that his birth name was Pope.
Meanwhile, Sarah returns to her dorm room after a date with Caleb only to find a note from Kate saying she went to the school infirmary. It turns out that Kate was bitten all over by spiders, which relates to a spell that only the Covenant knows of. Pogue hears of Kate's illness during a meeting with Tyler, Caleb and Reid, reading the Book of Damnation; at this point the boys discover that Chase Collins is in fact Chase Pope - the descedant of Hagan, the bastard son of John Putnam, thus he is, like the rest of them, a Son of Ipswitch, a descendant of the banished fifth bloodline. It turns out that Chase wants more power, having become addicted to it. Chase later threatens to kill everyone Caleb ever loved if he refuses to will his Power to Chase right after he ascends. Once Caleb does ascend, he and Chase face off in a dual of magic at the old Putnam Barn while Sarah's life hangs in the balance. The two throw power against each other until the barn catches fire. While Caleb and Sarah escape unharmed, Chase is nowhere to be found.
Cast
Other media
Despite the popular misconception, The Covenant is not based on a comic-book title nor any other book. The confusion comes from the fact that Sony had a comic-book of the same name created for the purposes of promoting the movie written by Aron Coleite. Neither the authors of the comic-book miniseries nor Top Cow Comics is mentioned in the movies’ credit sequences, so the comic-book miniseries is not regarded as source material by the makers of this movie.[1]
Reception
The Covenant was widely panned by critics, getting a 3% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[2] Upon its release in the United States, the film still managed to top the box office charts with a $9,000,000 opening on what was called a "weak" weekend.[3]
As of October 15, 2006, The Covenant has earned $23,292,105 in the US (Worldwide:$37,256,954). The film cost roughly $20 million to produce, not including marketing.[4]
References
External links
