It didn't Baxter.
$400 million is what Universal paid to make this new trilogy.
OK, let me rephrase. The Exorcist Believer cost $30 million and, assuming the other movies are that much, where did the other $310 million go? Was $400 million in the budget to begin with?
It's one of life's greatest mysteries.
I like a good mystery. Let's get on the case of this film.
OK.
Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr) lost his wife, Sorenne (Tracy Graves), to the 2010 Haiti quake. Their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett), was born in the aftermath, and he's been overprotective of her ever since. One day, he lets her hang out with her devout bestie, Katherine (Olivia O'Neill), after-school. He thinks it'll be all right.
It's not.
It turns out the girls were trying to commune with Sorenne. They pop up three days later at a barn, shaken and bruised, but all right. But then crazy stuff happens, and the girls turn erratic. It soon dawns on Victor's neighbor Ann (Ann Dowd), a nurse, that the girls are possessed. She directs him to Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), the mother of the one-time possessed Regan (Linda Blair). A cross-faith team of Exorcists soon assemble to cast the demon out.
The new trilogy was conceived by director David Gordon Green (the recent Halloween films), who co-wrote it with Peter Sattler and Danny McBride. This is a decent first installment all things considered. It builds and sustains suspense as the girls go from "slightly erratic" to "supernatural." The quake sequence is just as scary as a demon's temper tantrum. Its talks of cross-faith exorcism practices are compelling. But it stumbles badly once it gets to an ending that so heavily emphasizes the bitter in bittersweet that it's a downer. It nearly sours the whole 111-minute affair.
Which leads me to one of the strangest compliments I can give a film. The film leads us to believe that its demonic adversary is the first film's Pazuzu back for round two. But according to Green, it's actually a fellow Mesopotamian deity, Lamashtu, who antagonizes the film. Why the ambiguity? Chris and Lamashtu's shared history is muddled thanks to this off-screen development. The compliment is for voice actress Lize Johnson, who would make a good replacement for Mercedes McCambridge as Pazuzu but is still unnerving on her own as Lamashtu. Does that make sense?
What makes better sense is its technical work. The girls' disheveled looks as Lamashtu takes further hold of them is the makeup team's greatest achievements. In fact, Katherine's fully demonic form makes her a strong dead-ringer for Regan. The sound designers excel at creating and mixing plenty of unsettling sound effects. They're at their strongest during the Exorcism. I've already mentioned the quake, but the visual effects team do a decent job visualizing some creepy demonic displays. Still, one of the Exorcists getting the neck-twist treatment was unintentionally silly.
What about the cast? Angela's longing for her mother is compelling, while Katherine is all right. It's quite convincing when Lamashtu uses them to guilt trip their parents. Is Lamashtu making it up or speaking the truth? Victor spends the movie trying to make sense of the world. We feel for him when he has to commit Angela to a psychiatric hospital. The otherwise bitter ending helps him work out his relationship with Angela in spectacular fashion. Ann starts the film as a typical pesky neighbor, but she quickly redeems herself. Norbert Leo Butz and Jennifer Nettles are pretty good as Katherine's dad and mom, Tony and Miranda. But Chris is just a glorified cameo, while the other Exorcists are just there.
Will the Power of Christ compel you to see The Exorcist Believer? Maybe. It's got some good scares, but the ending is ultimately bitterly esoteric. It might leave you wondering what was accomplished. Maybe the sequel, subtitled Deceiver, will redeem the franchise. Maybe not. As for me, my next review is the swan song of William Friedkin, the first film's recently deceased director. It's coming soon.
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