The Deliverance movie review: There’s no deliverance from this conflict ridden tale

The Deliverance movie review

Film: The Deliverance (Netflix)
Cast: Andra Day, Glenn Close, Anthony B. Jenkins, Mo'Nique, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Caleb McLaughlin, Demi Singleton, Anthony B. Jenkins
Director: Lee Daniels
Rating: 2/5
Runtime: 112 min

"The Deliverance" is based on the real-life story of LaToya Ammons. She had claimed that demons were responsible for the violent behaviors within her household and it took an exorcist to cleanse the home of its unholy mess. Aiming to be the Black equivalent of ‘The Exorcist' this film is neither scary nor thrilling. It's just a whole lot of drama about a dysfunctional family whose tryst with the devil pushes them straight into the protective hands of God. Lee Daniels, best known for his Sundance hit ‘Precious' tries his hand at horror with "The Deliverance" - but the result is neither becoming nor precious.

Set in 2011, this film follows the template set by ‘The Conjuring' universe. Stripped of spookiness or nuance, the narrative goes perversely dramatic over a substance abusing single Mom's efforts to stay afloat.

Ebony (Audra Day) is a recovering alcoholic and parent to three children: Nate (Caleb McLaughlin), Shante (Demi Singleton), and the youngest Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins). Her estranged husband who is deployed in Iraq is not expected home anytime soon and a huge stack of bills need to be paid. Her interfering cancer patient mother, Alberta (Close), who lives with her, isn't making things easier for her either. They have just moved house and the new home is so spooky that strange things begin to occur.

Flies start showing up from the basement, Andre sleepwalks and exhibits signs of truancy. Alberta has stopped her chemo sessions for want of money, Social worker Cynthia (Mo'Nique) trails Ebony in the hopes of catching her red-handed and several more such turbulence lie in wait. Then there's always some tension between Alberta and Ebony. When things start to go wrong all fingers point towards Ebony. No one believes her when she swears she isn't drinking and something is wrong in her house. It's only when she meets up with a lady pastor that they realise that they are living in a house haunted by evil spirits - which then (of course) needs to be delivered from Evil. By not using the word exorcism the film probably hoped to be perceived as different. But it's not.

The screenplay by David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum fails to transition seamlessly from family drama to horror. The scares don't appear for a very long time. Thefilm plays out more like a social issue drama and is never convincing even when it ends with the exorcism. Ebony's survival story might have been far more interesting if dwelt on at length. But the narrative veers into B movie territory with images of haunting and inexplicable violence and everything begins to go haywire.

Close steals a march over the rest of the actors here because most of them do overwrought without much emotion or heft. Close's casting though, feels weird because the ‘real life' Indiana woman never had a white woman for her mother. As Reverend Bernice James who calls herself an apostle, Aunjuanue Ellis-Taylor comes across as half-baked. Andra Day fails to garner sympathy for the character she plays, the kids have sketchy characters and the social worker is way too nondescript an entity to leave an impact.

This exorcism film is rather inept and lacks conviction. The culture-related cliches overwhelms any originality. The make-up is shoddily done and the performances don't really light up the screen.There's nothing much here to attract the horror fan.