Operator Movie Reviews

When I first saw the original The Exorcist (1973) during my high school years 2005-2009 I did not appreciate the impact it had on some. My dad admitted it gave him nightmares. I wish I could have see it through his eyes. Having rewatched the original in preparation for this review, the difference in quality is noticeable. That being said, while this 2023 movie did get one jump scare in on me, I cannot say it is terribly scary. So, lets get into The Exorcist: Believer.

***SPOILER FREE***

The movie is boring. The cinematography is well done, the music is fine, and the acting kind of falls short in places. The characters are almost nonexistent in that there is only one, Mr. Fielding. The story is an interesting one of fate, choice, love, regret, faith, and family. Too bad that the film only illuminates these ideas about as well as flashlight with a dying battery. It is a sequel to the original 1973 film and you will find some lines of dialog and at least one shot tying the two together.

Overall, if you want to watch a good exorcist movie, watch the original or The Pope’s Exorcist (2023). Don’t get me wrong, it could always be worse, but it could have been better.

Verdict: 2.6/5

***SPOILER WARNING***

The story is about two teen girls who, like in the original, are dabbling with what could be perceived as witchcraft. In this case Mr. Fielding’s daughter is trying to communicate with her deceased mother — using a pendulum? So you can use pendulums in spirit communication, but what the girls describe is not something as mundane as pendulum work but full on channeling, so I am not sure why they have a pendulum. Anyway, they sneak off to the woods, as you do, to perform their “ritual” ( I am putting that in quotes not because they call it that but because I am calling it that). They awake three days later having missing time. After they go missing the parents are introduced and we meet the other not characters. Everyone in this story except for Mr. Fielding is a foil strictly speaking regardless of what the writer/director/executive producer David Green intended. The West family is basically a caricature of the picture perfect “Christian” family. The dad is pretty much introduced as a dick and never really redeems himself, except maybe a little at the end and even that is walked back. The mom is quiet and submissive as I suspect some stereotype Christian women to be.

Once it is established that this is not a medical problem the story quickly shifts to full blown supernatural mode. Remember in the original film when the mom spent a lot of the movie trying to find a medical answer, and established characters as people who could help? It gave depth to the world as even psychiatry was looked down upon by the doctors, but here it is all, as Nick Fury puts it, “black girl magic!” Don’t get me wrong magic is magic no matter whose culture it comes from, but every Christian person and every Christian action taken or presented in this movie is weak, impotent, and second rate to the root magic of Dr. Beehibe. Oh, and I wouldn’t wan to forget to mention Ellen Burstyn reprising her role as Chris MacNeil except that she shows up just long enough to have her eyes stabbed out and does not contribute anything of substance except to complain about the patriarchy.

Moving on, the who diverse community of non-characters and Mr. Fielding come together for an exorcist. You have Mr. and Mrs. West, their pastor, generic Christian friend, Dr. Beehibe, and random nurse neighbor. A priest does eventually show up only to get his head spun 90 degrees which the special effects did looked pretty good. By the end however, a choice must be made: They must choose the form of the destructor, no wait that was a better movie… They must choose which girl to save. Like in Ghostbusters the decision is left up to the first person to speak up, and like the bad guy in Indian Jones and the Last Crusade they chose poorly. Funny thing actually, there is no choice. Mr. Fielding’s daughter received a prenatal blessing (more black girl magic) and Mr. West’s daughter had not been baptized, it is the West daughter who is sacrificed on the proverbial alter of “white Christians bad.” Does the film say this? Not explicitly, but every man who is a foil in this movie are depicted as weak, ineffectual, overbearing, tone deaf, or irresolute. Every woman and person of color is shown as selfless, in-charge, and willing to do whatever is necessary to storm the gates of Hell and fight evil incarnate.

Mr. Fielding, who presumably having lost his faith at the beginning of the film after loosing his wife, comes full circle and believes once again. He lovingly embraces his daughter while the West’s daughter is drug to hell. Unfortunately however, we are left guessing as the nature of Mr. Fielding’s faith at the beginning of the film as it is not shown and only brought up in a throw away line of dialog.

With that said, it is not a bad movie, but it was not worth seeing in the cinema. If you want to see it, I would rent it.