Mentions of death, physical and sexual abuse.

Netflix’s latest addition to its horror catalog is the true story of the Ammons haunting case (also known as the Demon House and 2000 Demons House case), The Deliverance follows Ebony Jackson (Andra Day), a mother with substance-use disorder.

Ebony and her children – Nate (Caleb McLaughlin), Shante (Demi Singleton), and Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins) – move into a new home and are ed by Ebony’s mother, Alberta (Glenn Close), who has cancer. However, there’s a sinister presence in the house that targets Ebony’s children, starting with Andre, who talks to an unseen presence called Trey. Soon, the three children begin to act increasingly strange, leading Ebony to ask Reverend Bernice (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) for help. The Deliverance hasn’t been the critics’ favorite, but it did one thing better than The Exorcist: Believer.

The Deliverance Did Family Drama Better Than Exorcist: Believer

The Deliverance Puts Most Of Its Focus On Its Family Drama

The main focus of the trailers for The Deliverance was the demonic possession of Ebony’s kids and her efforts to find a way to save them. It’s because of this that The Deliverance immediately brought to mind The Exorcist: Believer, which has a similar premise. Directed by David Gordon Green, The Exorcist: Believer follows photographer Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.), whose daughter Angela and her best friend Katherine become possessed by an evil force. Victor and Katherine’s parents resort to methods from different cultures to exorcise the girls, testing Victor’s beliefs and making him face past trauma.

Sorenne, who was pregnant with Angela, was injured, and Victor was forced to choose to save his wife or their daughter.

Thirteen years before the events of The Exorcist: Believer, Victor and his wife, Sorenne, were on their honeymoon in Haiti when a massive earthquake hit. Sorenne, who was pregnant with Angela, was injured, and Victor was forced to choose to save his wife or their daughter. In addition to that, there’s how Katherine’s Baptist family deals with her possession and the reveal of Chris MacNeil being estranged from Regan – and yet, The Exorcist: Believer didn’t do family drama that well.

Ebony’s relationship with Alberta was also complex, as Alberta was also abusive to Ebony, and it’s implied she allowed other people to abuse her, too.

The Deliverance, on the other hand, covered that part quite well. Ebony had a criminal past and a history of physical abuse against her children, mostly triggered by her substance-use disorder. Because of this, Child Protective Services kept a close eye on her family, and she didn’t have the best relationship with her kids.

Ebony’s relationship with Alberta was also complex, as Alberta was also abusive to Ebony, and it’s implied she allowed other people to abuse her, too. The Deliverance gave this part of the story the time and attention it deserved, and while that greatly helped the movie, it almost made it forget about its other, important part.

The Deliverance Falls Short As A Movie About Demonic Possession

The Deliverance Is Marketed As A Movie About Demonic Possession

As mentioned above, the focus of the trailers for The Deliverance was the children’s possession and the sinister forces in the house, but the movie didn’t really deliver (pun intended) on that. The demonic possession of the children is a slow burn, but even when it gets to the third act, it still doesn’t feel well-developed. Even though all three children were possessed, only Dre has the “deliverance” performed on him, which also saves his siblings (for unexplained reasons).

The Deliverance’s marketing should have emphasized the family drama instead of selling it as a story of demonic possession.

The real action with the demonic possession of Ebony’s children happens in the final 30 minutes or so of The Deliverance, which is why many viewers were disappointed by it. The Deliverance lacking scares and the horror elements promised in the trailers are some of the complaints of critics about the movie, and with good reason. If anything, The Deliverance’s marketing should have emphasized the family drama instead of selling it as a story of demonic possession.

The Deliverance & The Exorcist: Believer Are Underwhelming Demonic Possession Movies (For Different Reasons)

They Might End Up Becoming Forgettable Demonic Possession Movies

The Deliverance is a disappointing movie about demonic possession, but so is The Exorcist: Believer, for different reasons. Believer is a direct sequel to William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, so it ignores all other sequels, but it couldn’t match the quality of the first movie. The Exorcist: Believer didn’t bring anything new to the franchise and had a messy plot with loose ends that the movie forgot about, and the combination of rituals and methods made what should have been the scariest part of the movie quite boring and tangled.

As mentioned above, The Deliverance failed as a movie of demonic possession by not developing this properly, and just like The Exorcist: Believer, it left many loose ends that won’t be addressed now. The Deliverance works a lot better as a family drama, but it won’t be memorable as a movie about demonic possession.