“The Exorcist: Believer” is filled with frantic, suspenseful horror. The movie is the sixth movie to the original film The Exorcist which came out in 1973. The movies are based on real exorcisms that occurred. However, the film is dramatized to its real counterpart. “The Exorcist: Believer” just came out on October 6th.
“The Exorcist: Believer” begins in Port au Prince, Haiti in 2010 when an earthquake took place. During this earthquake, the main character’s pregnant wife got severely injured. Victor Fleming, the main character, had to choose between saving his wife or his daughter. After the earthquake happened he moved to America with his only daughter, Angela Fleming. About 13 years later, Victor and Angela live life to the fullest. Victor has a job as a photographer and Angela is a middle school student. Early in the movie, the idea of spirituality is established, especially with the Haitian religion Vodou. The beginning of the movie shows Angela’s mother getting blessed by the followers of Vodou to have a healthy pregnancy. Years later, in America, Angela wants to know more about her mother. Angela and her friend, Katherine, go out to the woods to find out more about her mom, spiritually. They go to the woods together after school and perform a ritual to reach the spirit of her mother. The girls don’t return home for dinner that night and end up missing for three days. After days of searching, the girls are found in a barn 30 miles from the forest where they originally were. The girls are brought back home, where they start acting strange and violent.
Victor Fleming is played by Leslie Odom Jr., who is probably the biggest name in this movie. He plays the role very well. The acting from the whole cast was very well done and not corny, like some horror movies can be. Angela Fleming is played by Lidya Jewett, she plays the role exceptionally well. It’s easy to tell these two actors took the roles very seriously which adds to the horror in this movie. All in all, the main characters in the movie did a great job portraying the story and the horror that the film gives.
What I enjoyed about the movie was the storytelling. The characters, like I said, did a really good job portraying the plot. I also enjoyed the random jumpscares that happened throughout the movie. I liked the build-up till when the stuff hit the fan. It was a smooth transition. However, from the transitions, it is easy to tell when the horror is about to happen, making the movie less scary. I also didn’t like the random corniness from the possessions as it takes away from the horror element.
Fans of horror movies would enjoy this movie; however, I don’t think that the film is incredibly scary. It would be a good starting horror film as it is not super scary throughout. I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone squeamish to blood and gore, but it makes a fine film for anyone wanting a little scare. Overall “The Exorcist: Believer” is a quality movie and is worth watching. With that being said, the movie is not good enough that it needs to be experienced on the big screen.
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