Exorcist: Believer bored me to death. It commits the most horrendous sin a horror film can, not being scary.
Believer being a direct sequel to the original Exorcist is lackluster in a number of ways. One of the many things that bugged me is the constant nostalgia bait. Never ending references to Regan and her mother, two characters from the original film. Believer’s trailer led me to believe that Regan’s mother would have a large role in the movie, in actuality she had no more than 5 minutes of screen time.
The movie had a budget of 30 million dollars and it really doesn’t show. Nothing much of note happens throughout the film to warrant the expensive cost of production. I believe that most of the budget went to the film’s opening earthquake scene, a scene completely disconnected from any ounce of horror. With 30 million dollars it is shocking that the film has little to no scares.
Throughout the film’s 1 hour and 51 minute runtime, there was only one time I was actually scared. Scarred isn’t even the right word, more so that I was startled because of a cheap jumpscare. Believer often relieves of easy jumpscares to startle the audience rather than create an unnerving atmosphere like the original had. To add on to my disappointment, a majority of the “scares” were shown in the movie’s trailer so I was aware of when they were coming; taking away from what fear I might’ve felt.
I thought the idea of having two possessed girls to be really interesting and I was excited to see what Believer would do with that concept. Sadly, Believer does little to nothing special you’d expect with this idea. The girls are largely separated for most of the film, which takes away from what could’ve been a unique dynamic. However, when both girls are together towards the end they do a fantastic job of acting hysterical and creating a horrific vibe that’s absent from most of the movie.
The film is carried in most regards by its leading actor, Leslie Odom Jr. of Hamilton fame. The movie is mostly centered on him as he’s the father of one of the possessed girls. His performance stopped me from falling asleep in the theater, although I may be biased as a huge Hamilton fan.
The ending of the film is another huge disappointment for me. The titular action of the exorcism wasn’t even performed at the end. The characters fail to complete the exorcism and only save one of the girls because they were tricked/ made a deal with the demon. It feels like a pity win for the protagonists that wasn’t earned.
This is also a heavily religious film, the final scene is of a nun monologuing about how they’ll persevere as this was all a part of God’s plan. Maybe this would’ve hit harder if I was religious but it didn’t have the intended effect.
Exorcist: Believer is a film bogged down with boring dialogue, an absurd lack of scares, hamfisted references to the original, and poor religious messages that make it the most boring and possibly worst horror movie of the year.
