Netflix continues to add new content to all its categories every week, and it has built a solid horror catalog over the years – and its newest horror movie is a great watch after a similar but divisive Blumhouse sequel from 2023. The horror genre has seen great success in recent years thanks to the ongoing trend of reboots and legacy sequels, but one branch that will always attract the attention and curiosity of the audience is movies based on true stories. Netflix has a variety of these, and in the horror genre, the latest addition isThe Deliverance.
Directed by Lee Daniels,The Deliveranceis based on the real-life Ammons haunting case, which is also known as the 200 Demons House or simply Demon House.The Deliverancefollows Ebony Jackson (Andra Day) and her family, who begin to experience increasingly strange events at their home that make them believe there are sinister presences in the house and that it might be a portal to hell.The Deliveranceis now available to stream on Netflix, and thanks to its themes, it’s a fitting watch after an anticipated but disappointing Blumhouse sequel from 2023.
2024 Is One Of The Best Years For Horror In My Lifetime
The horror genre has been having one of the best years it’s ever had, with over a dozen critically-acclaimed scary films coming out in 2024.
The Deliverance Is Very Similar To 2023’s The Exorcist: Believer
Two Very Similar Stories About Exorcisms
Ebony turns to Reverend Bernice James for help as the children keep acting erratically, so James performs a deliverance ritual.
The Deliverancesees Ebony, who deals with substance-use disorder, and her children moving into a mysterious house, wherethe children begin to show signs of demonic possession. Ebony turns to Reverend Bernice James (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) for help as the children keep acting erratically and other strange events keep occurring at the house, so James performs a deliverance ritual.The Deliverancefollows the same model as many other stories about demonic possession, exorcisms, and haunted houses, but it’s especially similar toThe Exorcist: Believer.
Also starring inThe Deliveranceis Glenn Close as Alberta, Ebony’s religious mother.
The Exorcist: Believerfollows Victor Fielding, whose daughter Angela and her best friend Katherine become possessed by an evil force.
Directed by David Gordon Green,The Exorcist: Believeris the sixth installment inThe Exorcistfranchiseand a direct sequel to the 1973 classic, thus ignoring all previous sequels.The Exorcist: Believerfollows Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.), whose daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) and her best friend Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) become possessed by an evil force after performing a séance to contact Angela’s mother.Victor and Katherine’s parents resort to methods from different cultures to exorcise their children, with surprising but tragic results.
The core of bothThe DeliveranceandThe Exorcist: Believerare the demonic possessions of children and the efforts of their parents to save them, as well as the effects of such a traumatic experience on the entire family.The Deliveranceis a fitting watch afterThe Exorcist: Believer, but, unfortunately, they both have another thing in common: they weren’t the critics’ favorites.
How The Deliverance’s Reviews Compare To The Exorcist: Believer
The Deliverance Didn’t Do Well With Critics, Either
The main criticism ofThe Deliveranceis how it failed to be an exorcism story, though it did well with the drama in the Jackson family.
The DeliveranceandThe Exorcist: Believerhave very low critics’ scores onRotten Tomatoes, getting “rotten” labels – however,The Deliverancehas a “fresh” audience score of 77%, whileThe Exorcist: Believeris “rotten” in both categories. It’s important to note thatThe Deliverance’s current critics’ score is based on less than 50 reviews, which could still go higher if more critics add their reviews (and assuming they liked it, of course). The main criticism ofThe Deliveranceis how it failed to be an exorcism story, though it did well with the drama in the Jackson family.
The Exorcist: Believerwas criticized for not bringing anything new to the franchise and for its messy plot.
Many critics pointed out the cast ofThe Deliveranceas the movie’s real strength (though some weren’t fully on board with Day and Mo’Nique’s performances), butthe biggest flaw of the movie is its lack of scares. Most critics agree thatThe Deliveranceis a great family drama but was ruined by Daniels’ attempt to make a horror movie out of it.The Exorcist: Believer, on the other hand, was criticized for not bringing anything new to the franchise and for its messy plot, as well as for being an “unnecessary” sequel.
Meanwhile,the audience’s reaction toThe Deliverancehas been a lot more positive. Viewers have praised the performances of the cast, particularly Glenn Close’s, and though it doesn’t stand out from other possession movies, it has been labeled as “entertaining” and worth watching. As for the audience’s reaction toThe Exorcist: Believer, most agreed with critics that it was an unnecessary sequel, disappointing, and lacked scares.
The Deliverance Review
The family drama is so good that, when the demonic possession begins to overshadow it, I found myself frustrated with the supernatural elements.
Why Netflix’s The Deliverance Movie Has Divided Critics So Much
The Deliverance Has Its Defenders & Haters
Despite its “rotten” certificate,The Deliverancehas some positive reviews that make it a divisive movie. As mentioned above, the performances of the cast are the biggest strengths of the movie to most critics, but even for those who were disappointed by the lack of horror,The Deliverancewas an entertaining watch. The mix of family drama with supernatural elements caught the attention of some critics, and many appreciated the deeper meaning and social commentary in it.The Deliverancemight not go down in film history as a must-watch exorcism movie, but it makes an interesting watch afterThe Exorcist: Believer.
The Deliverance
A woman returns to her childhood home to confront dark secrets from her past. As supernatural forces emerge and family tensions rise, she must uncover the truth behind her haunting visions and protect her loved ones from an ancient evil threatening their lives.
