By Seth Lukas Hynes
The Exorcist: Believer
Starring Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett and Olivia O’Neill
Rated MA15+
3.5/5
Directed by David Gordon Green, The Exorcist: Believer is a competent but grossly unnecessary horror sequel.
Single father Victor (Leslie Odom Jr.) arranges an exorcism after his daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) and her friend Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) are possessed by a demon.
As with Green’s Halloween sequel trilogy, Believer shows a strong command of character and dialogue (no doubt carried over from Green’s comedy roots), with long stretches devoted to Victor and Angela’s family bond. The performances are universally solid, Jewett and O’Neill are ghastly troopers as the possessed children, and the film features plenty of anticipatory chills, skin-crawling unease and macabre terror.
However, Believer suffers from diluted focus and a lack of originality.
Certain callbacks to the iconic 1973 Exorcist, such as the green vomit and 360-degree head spin, are well-executed, but Ellen Burstyn is crowbarred in as Chris McNeill for little more than legacy clout.
At its core, The Exorcist was a battle between the possessed child Regan, her desperate mother and two priests; Believer is crammed full of characters, most of whom are thinly-developed, which splits our focus too far. Moreover, Katherine has very little development compared to Angela.
Believer emphasises the importance of other faiths in saving the girls, as The Exorcist was a very Catholic movie, but the exorcists involved all preach some form or offshoot of Christianity, so the film’s attempt at diversity feels half-hearted. Believer also has some disconcerting anti-abortion themes.
Unlike Green’s Halloween trilogy, which reinvented the franchise, The Exorcist: Believer is a well-crafted, often creepy but shallow soft reboot that mishandles its fan-service and its new ideas.
The Exorcist: Believer is playing in most Victorian cinemas, but I recommend the original or the outstanding Exorcist III from 1990.
– Seth Lukas Hynes
