Into Temptation 2009

Father John Buerlein (Jeremy Sisto) is the mild-mannered priest of a small Catholic parish in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Overworked and underpaid, he has grown jaded with the profession and has trouble connecting with his parishioners. During confession, a mysterious and unnamed prostitute (Kristin Chenoweth) confesses to a sin she has not yet committed: she plans to commit suicide on her birthday. Father John is taken aback. The confession ends abruptly, and he is unable to stop the woman before she disappears. He knows only that she wears a crucifix and is an Aries (her birthday is soon). Father John grows obsessed with finding and helping this woman, and begins visiting the city’s red-light district with the hopes of finding her. On his way home, Father John meets a homeless man named Gus (Gene Larche), but with no money for him, he gives him a rosary instead. Later, he seeks counsel from his friend Father Ralph O’Brien (Brian Baumgartner), who advises him not to become too personally involved.

Father John returns to the red-light district and speaks to a prostitute named Miriam (Greta Oglesby), who suggests a powerful pimp named James St. Clair (Ansa Akyea) might know about the woman. As they speak in a bar, the mysterious prostitute enters and solicits a john (Patrick Coyle), who leaves with her immediately. As she goes, Father John catches a glimpse of the crucifix she is wearing and tries to chase her down. She leaves in the john’s car before he can catch them, but he writes down the license plate as they drive off. Back at church, his sermons start to grow more unorthodox, and Father Ralph warns him that his unusual church manner and trips to the red-light district have the archbishop concerned. Meanwhile, Father John is contacted by his ex-girlfriend Nadine Brennan (Amy Matthews), who tells him she is divorcing her husband and still harbors romantic feelings for Father John.

Father John learns the john’s car belongs to an accountant named Steven Miller, who tells Father John the prostitute is Linda, an expensive call girl who is widely considered among the best at her profession. Meanwhile, Linda visits her dying, elderly stepfather Donald Dupree (Tom Carey), who repeatedly raped Linda in her childhood and ultimately set her on the path to prostitution. Linda confronts him about their past, but claims she has forgiven him his sins, even though he continues to deny any wrongdoing. A drunk Nadine goes to talk to Father John in confession about her loneliness and feelings for him. He admits to caring for her as well, but they agree to remain friends. Later, Father John hires Lloyd Montag (Bruce A. Young), an unemployed boxer at his church, to serve as his bodyguard as he talks to St. Clair. The pimp, who knows Lloyd from his boxing days, tells Father John what neighborhood Linda lives in. There, Father John and Lloyd find Zeke (Tony Papenfuss), a taxi driver who knows they are looking for Linda and agrees to take them to her apartment. Zeke explains he had driven her to the church when she first spoke to Father John at confession, and Zeke later visited the church to watch Father John preach.

At the apartment, Father John and Lloyd find Linda has moved out, but they discover she had possessed a 12-year-old newspaper clipping about Father John’s ordination. Father John offers Lloyd a job helping out at the church, which Lloyd accepts. Father John then returns to his church and cries, fearing he is too late to save Linda. Meanwhile, Linda goes to a bridge and is about to jump off when she encounters Gus, who offers her the rosary he received earlier from Father John. A grateful and emotional Linda hugs Gus. It is not revealed whether she commits suicide or not. In a confession to Father Ralph, Father John expresses guilt he did not absolve Linda before her confession abruptly ended. Father Ralph says that even if Linda is dead, her soul is immortal, and that Father John’s penance is to absolve her now. Father John does so. The film ends with a childhood memory of young Linda at church, where a group of boys laugh at her old torn clothes until she is defended by a young John Buerlein, whose act seems to make a strong positive impact upon her.