For October……SUNDAY SCARIES Horror Movie Series
The Deliverance (2024)
A woman’s slow detachment from reality as she tries to save her family from sinister forces.
Laura’s Rating: 3/5 Stars
Plot: Ebony Jackson struggles to provide for her 3 kids and her ailing white mother. After moving into a new house, strange occurrences begin that threaten not only the family’s safety, but Ebony’s sanity as well.
Analysis: The ingredients for an impactful horror film are there: racial context, family dynamics, and generational trauma. I wish this was a Jordan Peele movie, as he could have hit something like this out of the park. With some improvements to the script and a more intentional second half, this movie could have been great.
As is, it’s a semi-original set up for a possession movie that doesn’t quite hit the mark. The first half is a bit slow, but viewers are getting to know the family and their situation. Glenn Close’s performance is over the top but she really commits and it almost kinda works. Andra Day and the kids all put up decent performances as well, and you do care for the characters, something that is missing in a lot of horror films. Unfortunately, in the latter half of the movie, the character development screeches to a halt and horror tropes take over.
Religion as a tool against demons and possession has been done countless times before. I still think it could have worked if faith and religion had been sprinkled more throughout the film rather than being mentioned once or twice before becoming a focus. I was really interested in a haunting/possession story within a black family context, but I feel like that got lost by the end and it could have been any family experiencing the events.
I liked the musical score, which was jarring but original. It added to the atmosphere of the film without being distracting. I thought the concept of actual demons mixed with generational trauma, which brings demons of its own, was interesting. The Deliverance had some good elements but ultimately didn’t live up to its potential.
Comments