The Exorcist: Believers hits theaters: what critics say

The Exorcist: Believers arrives in theaters today, the expectation generated by this sequel to the 1973 classic is giving way to concern since the first reviews were revealed.

The film is directed by David Gordon Greenwho most recently made his mark on another iconic horror franchise in Halloween.

What The Exorcist is about: Believers

The film follows Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom, Jr.), who, since the death of his pregnant wife in an earthquake in Haiti 12 years ago, has raised his daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) on your own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum) disappear into the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, a chain of events is unleashed that will force Victor to confront the underbelly of evil and, in his terror and desperation, search for the only person Hurray who has witnessed something like this before: Chris MacNeil.

The Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn reprises her role as the woman forever altered by the possession of her daughter Regan five decades earlier, with Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale), Jennifer Nettles (Harriet) and Norbert Leo Butz (Fosse/Verdon) completing the cast.

The challenge that Gordon Green’s film faces is the fact that the original film is considered one of the scariest films of all time. The film has already had two sequels, two prequels, and a spin-off television series that have failed to earn the same reputation.

What critics say about The Exorcist: Believers

The opinions about the new film that have already begun to emerge are very not encouraging. There are critics who say it could be considered boring.

Owen Gleiberman in Variety:

“Clichés of demonic possession accumulate with obedient nostalgia, but have lost their shock value. (…) A new Exorcist film should not be a slavish imitation of the original The Exorcist, but it should evoke a certain danger ; that’s what The Exorcist was about. The Exorcist: Believers, in its superficially competent and elegantly assembled form, seems as dangerous as a crucifix submerged in a bottle of bottled water.”

Kevin Harley in Total Film:

“Once the exorcism begins, Believers falls fatally apart, not least because of the silliness of watching amateurs attempt the job. (…) the execution is crude compared to Friedkin’s icy chills of theological doubt and fear. “And it would take more than the latest, ill-deserved attack by Believers for fans’ affection to redeem its loose litany of regurgitant nods to a towering original.”

Witney Seibold in Slash Film:

“Believers is not the worst Exorcist film by any means, but it is certainly the least intriguing. It is a choppy, routine thriller that forgets to scare us. Some images are vaguely creepy, but nothing about this film will be remembered clearly once “Let the year end. Green has such a vague understanding of the material that he seems to panic and resort to jump scares and roaring demon children.”

Tom Jorgensen on IGN:

“On its own merits, The Exorcist: Believers is a slow-burn duel with the devil animated through a confusing second act by an enthusiastic cast and a timely meditation on the importance of community during crisis. But Believers is also palpably reluctant to deviate from the formula of its legendary precursor. Despite being fated, its exorcism sequence barely manages to provide a satisfying conclusion to the story, the underdeveloped synchronized possession element creates more problems than it solves and adds bloat to a film that would have benefited from a simpler, more measured approach.