A horror movie truly fulfills its potential when the depth of its horror turns out to be our very real fears. The Deliverance captures so much of our existence โ the American dream/nightmare; the human condition, our struggles in economics, race, health and family; the state of religion vs faith, disappointment, betrayal and loss. The โintrusionโ into this relatable tragedy play could have been anything and still made a good movie; having Luciferโs minions show up, however, was a brilliant choice. Some of the criticism Iโve read is the predictability of the whole possession angle, but I actually found a) if you have pure genius in the form of The Exorcist in your memory banks, itโs silly not to acknowledge it and play upon it, and that doesnโt diminish anything for me; b) in The Exorcist, the fear was of losing your child; here, there are whole lifetimes of fear present long before the devil shows up; c) there are some nice twists with the โleadโ possession acting as a proxy for the simultaneous desecration of the children; and d) shhhhโฆthis isnโt really a possession movie.
I found the acting top notch. Andra Day exudes indifference and boredom (but palpable fear behind her eyes) when sheโs beat down, but is my new favorite Mother Scorned. I loved the casting from top to bottom. Not a weak spot. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor was excellent lurking in the background until she had a couple of pivotal and shocking scenes near the climax. My scalp is still tingling. MoโNique is a treasure and I donโt think Iโve un-hated a movie character quite so fast, and Miss Lawrence stole her whole scene shooting dice while Omar Epps sang karaoke and kissed an old white woman!! (Sometimes I needed a seatbelt to watch this movie and it usually wasnโt during fights with the devil. LOL.)
And Glenn Close. Holy moly. Iโm speechless. As I said, the homage to The Exorcist is welcome IMO, but a great writer and director figure out how to also embellish or improve or perhaps cast a slightly different light. Linda Blairโs crucifix scene finally has worthy company with Glenn Closeโs, ahem, olfactory skills. And the unexpected Pentecostalism here outshines the Catholic priestโs sacrifice at the top of those iconic stairs.
But one thing this movie does that the 1973 masterpiece did not: Iโm yearning for more of these fantastic women characters. I want to know more of what came before. I could watch Close and Day and MoโNique and Ellis-Taylor for hours. Not because their characters are pleasant necessarily. But because they are the horror story. And they (and the absent men) are us. And the real redemption for all of us is reachable just off screen, down that road sheโs driving at the end.