Current:Home > Markets'The Exorcist: Believer' review: Sequel is plenty demonic but lacks horror classic's soul -Wealth Nexus Pro
'The Exorcist: Believer' review: Sequel is plenty demonic but lacks horror classic's soul
View
Date:2025-04-13 23:25:26
The devil’s been plenty busy onscreen in the past 50 years. Think of all the possession films that “The Exorcist” spawned – some good, many bad, and arguably none quite as unsettling as the original 1973 horror classic.
So it’s fairly ambitious to craft a new direct sequel and renounce all other “Exorcist” episodes here in 2023. Following David Gordon Green's resurrection of another iconic franchise with 2018’s outstanding “Halloween,” the writer/director's “Exorcist: Believer” (★★★ out of four; rated R; in theaters Friday) does a decent job living up to a legendary predecessor. Original star Ellen Burstyn returns in the latest film, which also goes all in exploring every parent’s deepest fears, but while it tries admirably, “Believer” is nowhere near as profoundly scary as William Friedkin’s genre-defining chiller.
Thirteen years after his wife died in a Haitian earthquake, Victor (Leslie Odom Jr.) is a photographer and single dad raising teen daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) on his own in the Georgia suburbs. Their relatively peaceful life is upturned when Angela and her best friend Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) take a detour home from school through a nearby forest and go missing for three days, worrying everyone in town.
The girls are found 30 miles away in a barn, treated at the hospital and sent home. Soon after, they begin showing signs that something is seriously not right. Angela attacks her dad in their home. Katherine, in church with her devout parents Miranda (Jennifer Nettles) and Tony (Norbert Leo Butz), drenches herself in communion wine and frightens the congregation by chanting “Body and the blood!” in a most unholy scene.
Miranda turns to her religious beliefs and is the first to raise the possibility it might be demon-related instead of a medical or mental health issue, and while skeptical, Victor desperately wants to figure out what’s wrong. With the help of kindly nurse Ann (Ann Dowd), the concerned dad reaches out to an infamously embattled mom: Former movie star Chris MacNeil (Burstyn) wrote a book about the possession of her daughter Regan (played in the first film by Linda Blair) and has spent the last five decades coming to grips with what happened.
'The Exorcist':That time William Friedkin gave us a tour of the movie's making
Chris sees for herself how bad the situation really is with the girls, and leaders from across the religious spectrum – including a rebellious priest (E.J. Bonilla), a Baptist pastor (Raphael Sbarge), a Pentecostal preacher (Danny McCarthy) and a root doctor (Okwui Okpokwasili) – gather for an all-out, last-ditch exorcism that tests everyone in attendance.
While high up in the fright-fest annals, the original “Exorcist” leans more thoughtful and theological overall, making the demonic incidents much more unsettling. “Believer” is a more conventional horror tale, with constant dread and eerie thrills: It's definitely haunting but lacks the first movie’s soulfulness.
Still, Green’s new outing definitely succeeds in paying homage and borrowing from the best. There are Easter eggs and throwbacks galore, plus a nifty retooling of “Tubular Bells,” and of course nothing good happens when a crucifix comes into the picture. Odom gets a meatier character arc than Burstyn did back in the day, and while her return isn’t as integral to the story as Jamie Lee Curtis’ was to the rebooted “Halloween,” Chris’ appearance adds needed weight to the “Believer” narrative.
Halloween movies:Peep these 20 new scary films, from 'Saw X' to 'The Exorcist: Believer'
Just like with Blair in the OG “Exorcist,” a lot of the sequel depends on its young stars and they’ve done their possessed-kid homework. Bedecked with top-notch physical effects, Jewett and O’Neill are more and more unhinged as their characters become increasingly demonic and yet at key points, the real girls rise through their bedeviled surface. (O’Neill’s gut-wrenching delivery of “I don’t want to go to hell” cuts right to the bone.)
Sure, we didn’t need another “Exorcist.” And Green’s recent “Halloween” trilogy ended up fumbling a good start. With a formidable “Believer” and two more “Exorcist” movies in the pipeline, though, at least this franchise still has a prayer.
veryGood! (15)
Related
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- 4 patients die after a fire breaks out at a hospital in northern Germany
- A Colorado funeral home owner accused of abandoning dozens of bodies may be close to leaving jail
- 'The Bear,' 'Iron Claw' star Jeremy Allen White strips down to briefs in Calvin Klein campaign
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- See Every Bachelor Nation Star Who Made Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist's Wedding Guest List
- Why strangers raised $450,000 to help a dependable Burger King worker buy his first home
- Chick-fil-A is bringing back Mango Passion Sunjoy, adding 3 new drinks: How you can order
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- A return to the moon and a rare eclipse among 5 great space events on the horizon in 2024
Ranking
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Ciara learns she's related to New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter after DNA test
- Crib videos offer clue to mysterious child deaths, showing seizures sometimes play a role
- Japanese air safety experts search for voice data from plane debris after runway collision
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Attorney: Medical negligence caused death of former Texas US Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson
- The U.S. Mint releases new commemorative coins honoring Harriet Tubman
- California forces retailers to have 'gender-neutral' toy aisles. Why not let kids be kids?
Recommendation
Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
Charles Melton makes Paul Dano 'blush like a schoolboy' at 2024 NYFCC Awards
When and where to see the Quadrantids, 2024's first meteor shower
Golden Globes host Jo Koy would like a word with Steven Spielberg: 'I mean, come on, bro'
Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
U.S. Mint issues commemorative coins celebrating Harriet Tubman. Here's what they look like.
Stock market today: Global shares mostly slip, while oil prices advance
Blinken heads to the Mideast again as fears of regional conflict surge