office, where her boss threatens her with termination if she allows Moore to testify again. Bruner visits Moore in his jail cell, where he convinces her to allow him to tell the rest of Emily's story despite her boss's threat. The next day, Moore takes the witness stand again and reads a letter that Emily wrote before she died. On the morning after the exorcism, Emily was visited by the Virgin Mary in a field near her house and was permitted the choice of ascending to Heaven. However, Emily chose to endure her suffering and later received stigmata on her hands. Thomas does not interpret the markings as a divine sign, but rather as traces of self-inflicted injuries. The jury ultimately reaches a verdict of guilty but surprises the court by asking Judge Brewster to give a sentence of time served. Although momentarily shocked by the suggestion, Brewster ultimately accepts it, and Moore is free to go. Bruner is offered a partnership in her firm, but declines. Later, Moore and Bruner pay a visit to Emily's grave, and Moore states that the time will come wherein Emily will be declared a saint. The epilogue reveals that Moore never appealed his conviction. Cast Laura Linney as Erin Christine Bruner Jennifer Carpenter as Emily Rose Tom Wilkinson as Father Richard Moore Campbell Scott as Ethan Thomas Colm Feore as Karl Gunderson Joshua Close as Jason Kenneth Welsh as Dr. Mueller Duncan Fraser as Dr. Graham Cartwright J. R. Bourne as Ray Mary Beth Hurt as Judge Brewster Henry Czerny as Dr. Briggs Shohreh Aghdashloo as Dr. Sadira Adani Production The screenplay was written by director Scott Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman; in honor of the contributions of Boardman and other collaborators on the film, Derrickson chose to forgo the traditional "film by" credit. According to Derrickson's DVD commentary, he chose Boardman as his co-writer because Derrickson sees himself as a believer and Boardman as a skeptic, and believed the pairing would provide the screenplay with two different perspectives, thus providing the film some ambiguity as to whether it supports a religious/supernatural interpretation of the events depicted, or a more secular/medical interpretation. The character of Emily Rose was inspired by the story of Anneliese Michel. German director Hans-Christian Schmid made his own film of Michel's story, Requiem, around the same time in late 2006. Linney recommended Carpenter for this role after working with