Mentions of death, physical and sexual abuse.
Netflix’s latest addition to its horror catalog isThe Deliverance, which quickly drew comparisons toThe Exorcist: Believer, but there’s one thing the former did better – but it also failed in a key element. Netflix keeps expanding its wide catalog of movies every week, and among its most notable recent additions is Lee Daniels’ supernatural horror movieThe Deliverance. Inspired bythe true story of the Ammons haunting case(also known as the Demon House and 2000 Demons House case),The Deliverancefollows Ebony Jackson (Andra Day), a mother with substance-use disorder.
Ebony and her children – Nate (Caleb McLaughlin), Shante (Demi Singleton), and Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins) – move into a new home and are joined by Ebony’s mother, Alberta (Glenn Close), who has cancer. However,there’s a sinister presence in the house that targets Ebony’s children, starting with Andre, who talks to an unseen presence called Trey. Soon, the three children begin to act increasingly strange, leading Ebony to ask Reverend Bernice (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) for help.The Deliverancehasn’t been the critics’ favorite, but it did one thing better thanThe Exorcist: Believer.
The Deliverance Did Family Drama Better Than Exorcist: Believer
The Deliverance Puts Most Of Its Focus On Its Family Drama
The main focus ofthe trailers forThe Deliverancewas the demonic possession of Ebony’s kids and her efforts to find a way to save them. It’s because of this thatThe Deliveranceimmediately brought to mindThe Exorcist: Believer, which has a similar premise. Directed by David Gordon Green,The Exorcist: Believerfollows photographer Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.), whose daughter Angela and her best friend Katherine become possessed by an evil force. Victor and Katherine’s parents resort to methods from different cultures to exorcise the girls, testing Victor’s beliefs and making him face past trauma.
Sorenne, who was pregnant with Angela, was injured, and Victor was forced to choose to save his wife or their daughter.
Thirteen years before the events ofThe Exorcist: Believer, Victor and his wife, Sorenne, were on their honeymoon in Haiti when a massive earthquake hit. Sorenne, who was pregnant with Angela, was injured, and Victor was forced to choose to save his wife or their daughter. In addition to that, there’s how Katherine’s Baptist family deals with her possession and the reveal of Chris MacNeil being estranged from Regan – and yet,The Exorcist: Believerdidn’t do family drama that well.
Ebony’s relationship with Alberta was also complex, as Alberta was also abusive to Ebony, and it’s implied she allowed other people to abuse her, too.
The Deliverance, on the other hand, covered that part quite well.Ebony had a criminal past and a history of physical abuse against her children, mostly triggered by her substance-use disorder. Because of this, Child Protective Services kept a close eye on her family, and she didn’t have the best relationship with her kids.
Ebony’s relationship with Alberta was also complex, as Alberta was also abusive to Ebony, and it’s implied she allowed other people to abuse her, too.The Deliverancegave this part of the story the time and attention it deserved, and while that greatly helped the movie, it almost made it forget about its other, important part.
The Deliverance Falls Short As A Movie About Demonic Possession
The Deliverance Is Marketed As A Movie About Demonic Possession
As mentioned above, the focus of the trailers forThe Deliverancewas the children’s possession and the sinister forces in the house, but the movie didn’t really deliver (pun intended) on that.The demonic possession of the children is a slow burn, but even when it gets to the third act, it still doesn’t feel well-developed. Even though all three children were possessed, only Dre has the “deliverance” performed on him, which also saves his siblings (for unexplained reasons).
The Deliverance’s marketing should have emphasized the family drama instead of selling it as a story of demonic possession.
The real action with the demonic possession of Ebony’s children happens in the final 30 minutes or so ofThe Deliverance, which is why many viewers were disappointed by it.The Deliverancelacking scares and the horror elements promised in the trailers are some of the complaints of critics about the movie, and with good reason. If anything,The Deliverance’s marketing should have emphasized the family drama instead of selling it as a story of demonic possession.
The Deliverance & The Exorcist: Believer Are Underwhelming Demonic Possession Movies (For Different Reasons)
They Might End Up Becoming Forgettable Demonic Possession Movies
The Deliveranceis a disappointing movie about demonic possession, but so isThe Exorcist: Believer, for different reasons.Believeris a direct sequel to William Friedkin’sThe Exorcist, so it ignores all other sequels, but it couldn’t match the quality of the first movie.The Exorcist: Believerdidn’t bring anything new to the franchiseand had a messy plot with loose ends that the movie forgot about, and the combination of rituals and methods made what should have been the scariest part of the movie quite boring and tangled.
As mentioned above,The Deliverancefailed as a movie of demonic possession by not developing this properly, and just likeThe Exorcist: Believer, it left many loose ends that won’t be addressed now.The Deliveranceworks a lot better as a family drama, but it won’t be memorable as a movie about demonic possession.
The Deliverance
A woman returns to her childhood home to confront dark secrets from her past. As supernatural forces emerge and family tensions rise, she must uncover the truth behind her haunting visions and protect her loved ones from an ancient evil threatening their lives.
