We Are One

Father Moina, an immigrant rights advocate whose mentor was the fiery Father Zapata, is convoked to perform an exorcism in mysterious circumstances. As he gets into the details of this case, he finds that this is not a regular case. Across history, many failed exorcisms have been unable to stop the egregores created by the passions of radical groups and have ended up in massacres and wars. And, as the Bible says, it's only the blood of the saints that can give that entity the power to unleash hecatombs of such dimensions. The only survivor of this tragic chain of events was Father Strong, whose failure ended in the 1937 Nanking massacre but was rescued to tell his story. It's a suicide mission, yet, Father Moina is given no choice. If he refuses the commission, he will be reassigned, which would end the immigrant rights mission created by his mentor and he can't allow that. It was Father Zapata who turned a cynic agnostic like him into a believer since the day he assisted him in expelling the demon Agares from the humble home of some immigrants; it was he who taught him the real meaning of his faith in his endless clashes with ICE. He has one condition though: his young assistant, Father Francisco Jones, should be allowed to succeed him in his church. When Father Moina meets the possessed, Scott Carson, he realizes the entity meets all the characteristics of the precedent cases. From that day on, the demon tries to weaken his faith in multiple ways: Martha, the daughter of a beloved volunteer, Mrs. Luzmila, is arrested again by ICE and, when the order of deportation is final, she commits suicide; his friend in activism, Father Brown, is killed in a rally to protest Martha's arrest in an attack apparently directed to him; his lawyer and friend is haunted by supernatural events; his church is attacked by rattlesnakes the day he is trying to say what might have been his last mass; and horrific nightmares awaken him multiple times. Meanwhile, we learn Scott's story. Scott, a youngster with no talent but high aspirations, is gained by the promises of Ethan, a mysterious man who introduces him to Odinism. Soon Scott learns that he can get anything his heart wishes but that he can't get smart with Ethan. And, as Ethan demands from Scott proof of his loyalty, he accepts to be trained by three equally uncanny bulky men in an Oath Keepers camp. When his test takes place in Washington, he is lured to shoot some counterdemonstrators, something that, reluctantly, he does only to find, at the moment of his arrest, that he is alone. Yet, apparently satisfied, Ethan gets him the best lawyer and Scott is back on the streets. Nevertheless, there is another test even more important for Scott, and when he, unwilling to lose Ethan's favor, accepts it, Ethan possesses Scott. On the day set for the exorcism, Father Moina learns that he has been betrayed by a wing of the church led by Cardinal DiGiogio, that Francisco will be part of the team of priests in charge of the sacramental even though it's very unlikely any of them will leave that place alive. Yet, Moina is given no option and he realizes that, if he is going to save Francisco, he has to stay in charge to send him away from the room at the climax of the ritual. The exorcism starts and he and his assistants are subjected to multiple supernatural attacks, yet the attacks, far from weakening the will of his assistants (Scott's parents and three priests), turn them into better versions of themselves. For instance, Scott's parents' racist hostility disappears. At some point, Father Moina is thrown through the air over a nightstand and has to continue the sacramental with severe rib injuries. Moina knows that the moment of the Clash is close and sends Father Francisco out of the room. The supernatural attacks redouble and at some point, it seems the demon is about to confess its name, but that's also the moment when Francisco returns to the room brought by a false call from Moina. The priest realizes it has been a trap and an explosion kills everybody in the room but Scott and Moina. The priest, mortally wounded, is suspended in the air by an invisible hand and then realizes that whoever speaks is no longer a demon but an angel. The angel explains to him that now they have the blood of the saints to empower the egregores that are going to unleash a new civil war, that millions will lose their souls as a result, and Father Moina dies. That's when an overwhelming force pushes the door out of its hinges, breaks a window into pieces, and moves in the direction of Houston. In the post-credits, we see, through fake news clips, the political tensions and the constitutional crisis after the elections ending up in a new secession and a new civil war, Scott leading ethnic and ideological cleansing at the head of a far-right militia, Pope Francis dying and being replaced by Cardinal DiGiorgio and the tragic fate of Father Moina's friends. Based on real history and demonology, We Are One presents a more terrifying take on demonic possessions than the supernatural slashers to which this issue has been reduced in other productions and a version of hell that is devoid of moral considerations.