The Exorcist: Believer (2023) Universal/Horror RT: 111 minutes Rated R (some violent content, disturbing images, language, sexual references) Director: David Gordon Green Screenplay: Peter Sattler and David Gordon Green Music: David Wingo and Amman Abbasi Cinematography: Michael Simmonds Release date: October 6, 2023 (US) Cast: Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Lidya Jewett, Olivia Marcum, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Ellen Burstyn, Raphael Sbarge, Okwui Okpokwasili, Danny McCarthy, E.J. Bonilla, Celeste Olivia, Tracey Graves.
Rating: * ½
I didn’t hate David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy, not even the much-derided Ends. He did a decent job of reviving the series. Who would have expected it from a filmmaker best known for stoner comedies like Pineapple Express and Your Highness? Unfortunately, he doesn’t repeat that success with his attempt at doing the same with the Exorcist series. He merely puts it on life support with The Exorcist: Believer. It’s a dull, tepid affair that doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the 1973 original.
To be fair, Green had his work cut out for him making a sequel to one of the most iconic horror films of all time. The world has changed a lot in the 50 years since William Friedkin’s movie scared the hell out of audiences. What was considered shocking back then- i.e. a cherubic preteen girl swearing like a truck driver and masturbating with a crucifix- is old hat in 2023. We’ve seen the same and worse in the countless demonic possession movies that followed in the wake of the OG’s success. There are no surprises left in that bag of tricks. This is made quite evident by the lack of anything even remotely scary in The Exorcist: Believer.
It should be noted that The Exorcist: Believer is a direct sequel to the first movie. NONE of the other ones count. Basically, Green hits restart just like he did with Halloween. Okay, fine. I’ll take that over a complete remake any day. In this not at all terrifying tale, it’s two preteen girls that get possessed by a demon (presumably Pazuzu even though he’s never named). It happens when Angela (Jewett, Good Girls) and Katherine (newcomer O’Neill) go into the woods and disappear after trying to contact the spirit world so Angela can talk to her dead mother. They turn up three days later and they’re definitely not the same. A couple of violent episodes later, hospital nurse Ann (Dowd, Hereditary) diagnoses the girls with demonic possession. She further suggests Angela’s father Victor (Odom, One Night in Miami) get in touch with an expert.
That expert is none other than Chris MacNeil (Burstyn, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore), the mother of Linda Blair’s possessed preteen from the OG. She wrote a book on the subject after her experiences in Georgetown. It became a best seller, but it also causes her to become estranged from her daughter. She explains to Victor that she spent ten years doing research on exorcism in every culture in the world. Apparently, this makes her qualified to help the two girls. Turns out it doesn’t.
I take a lot of crap for unapologetically liking Exorcist II: The Heretic, but at least that one had some interesting ideas. It was a bold move on John Boorman’s part to do something different with it. The Exorcist: Believer, on the other hand, is just a rehash and a weak one at that. Take the opening scene set in Haiti. It’s where we first meet Victor, a photographer looking forward to fatherhood. That is, until an earthquake claims the life of his pregnant wife. He could have saved her, but chose to save the life of his unborn daughter instead. It’s something he still feels guilty over which means the demonic entity will use it against Victor at some point during the exorcism. That’s all well and good, but the opening fails to do something crucial. Remember the unsettling vibe of the original’s Iraq-set opening? GONE! All I felt was indifference as I knew Victor’s choice would come up again later. This movie is completely and utterly predictable. For instance, the very fact that the screenwriters (Green and Peter Sattler) take the time to explain the Chris-Regan rift means it will be resolved by movie’s end. And in case you’re wondering, there IS a surprise cameo in the final minutes. NOT a spoiler! You know it’s coming.
I’ve already told you The Exorcist: Believer isn’t at all scary. There isn’t even a decent “BOO!” scene. What makes it even worse is the CGI. It’s bad, really bad. It’s some of the worst I’ve ever seen. I recently rewatched the first movie (along with II & III) and the makeup effects are as effective now as they were a half-century ago. Had there been a makeup category in ’73, The Exorcist would have been a clincher for that Oscar. The effects in The Exorcist: Believer are as lazy as everything else including the sound design (one of two Academy Awards won by the OG).
Green even botches the climactic exorcism, a group effort attended by a Baptist minister (Sbarge, Once Upon a Time), a ritualistic healer from Haiti (Nigerian artist Okpokwasili), all the parents and Ann standing in for the priest (Bonilla, Guiding Light) who bows out because the Vatican won’t approve the ritual. What is they say about too many cooks? Not only that, we don’t get to know most of the people (aside from Ann and Victor) beyond a superficial level. How can we care when we don’t know the personal stakes of the exorcists?
I wouldn’t necessarily call the acting in The Exorcist: Believer bad. It’s more wooden than anything else. Now that could be because the screenplay doesn’t give them much to work with in the first place. I’m going to go ahead and give the cast the benefit of the doubt. Burstyn does okay in her limited screen time. Jewett and O’Neill aren’t too bad either; the problem is we don’t see a lot of them. Once the evil takes them over, they’re essentially sidelined in favor of parents and religious figures in various states of worry and fear. It’s a feeble attempt on Green’s part to assign deeper meaning to the proceedings. He fails. He touches on a few themes, but doesn’t explore them. Too bad, he could have really said something about organized religion and how they’re often at odds with one another.
Why mince words? The Exorcist: Believer sucks BIG TIME! It’s dull, muddled and unoriginal. It doesn’t have the courage to dare to be different like Exorcist II or totally bonkers like Exorcist III. It’s a horror movie on autopilot. Green serves up what he thinks audiences will respond to. It’s like he’s not even trying really. He’s just out for the almighty buck. Not only that, he already has a sequel planned for 2025 and another sometime after that. Maybe the devil made him do it? Please resist the temptation, Mr. Green, the power of Christ compels you.
