Photo Credit - Universal Pictures
Like Rakim in hip-hop, cellular phones in technology, or the air fryer in homes, The Exorcist didn’t invent its space but undoubtedly made it better. The 1973 horror classic broke far too many molds to list here thanks to the cinematic treatment Oscar-winning director William Friedkin brought. It’s essential viewing for every fan of the genre and film in general and still holds up well today.
However, there’s an unprecedented dropoff when the talk turns to the other pieces of the Exorcist franchise. Except for The Exorcist III, which gets bonus points for having Patrick Ewing as the Angel of Death, all the subsequent entries effectively killed it…until now. After their mostly successful revival of the Halloween series, Danny McBride and David Gordon Green team up again to bring new life to this one with The Exorcist: Believer.
Believer, acting as a sequel to the earlier Exorcist projects, is the story of two missing girls whose reappearance sets off a chain of events that indicate the demonic possession of both and their parents’ efforts to stop it.
This one shares close ties with the OG film, but so did the others, and look where it got them. Can McBride and Gordon work their magic to resuscitate another dead horror staple? It doesn’t match its promise; still, Believer has just enough to make you want more.
The main thing that keeps Believer from fully realizing its potential is that it takes too long to get going. The first act does a good job of setting Believer’s world with all the background info needed to make sense of what lies ahead early. However, it drags with unnecessary filler for at least another 20 minutes, which pushes back the first real scare until at least 40 minutes in. It’s the same issue that dogged McBride and Gordon’s previous horror outing, Halloween Ends.
The extended first act wouldn’t be a problem if Believer ran for over two hours. Conversely, it presents a considerable issue since Believer is about 10 minutes under that mark, and you go nearly half the movie without a single reason to panic.
After the 40-minute lull, Believer picks up considerably and is on par with what you expect from the series. The makeup and effects that come through when the film entirely centers on the girls’ possessions. They elict chills at the sight. When coupled with the well-timed jump scares, it’s the type of fright that made McBride and Gordon successful in horror – using sound and gore to catch viewers when they least expect it.
However, there’s more self-sabotage late in the film. First, they ruin Believer’s surprise by forcing a wholly unnecessary scene. It steals a bit of the nostalgia that Believer could use. Shortly thereafter, they compound that mistake with an ending that is all over the place and still very predictable. The only thing that saves it is a small twist that could lead right into the already planned sequel.
The talent in front of the camera is a much more consistent and enjoyable situation. Leslie Odom Jr. delivers another good performance, but the biggest impression is made by the work of Lidya Jewett and Olivia Marcum once their characters were possessed. Granted, those performances leaned heavily on special effects, but there’s still a lot of those young ladies in it due to the effects being practical ones.
It’s impossible to place Believer anywhere close to the original Exorcist from a quality standpoint. It’s far too flawed for that. Thankfully, it’s not the other Exorcist films either. The moments that reach what an Exoricist film should be make Believer a solid watch and a glimpse of what the franchise’s near future could be.