THE DELIVERANCE: Dramatic Director Delivers Disappointment

By Harrison J. Bahe

Lee Daniels is quite the prolific filmmaker having hit the scene with the almost psychologically scarring film Precious and then going on to direct such excellent dramatic films revolving around the African American experience like The Butler and The United States vs. Billie Holiday. I saw various TikToks and social media posts about The Deliverance which made me curious. A friend suggested that Glenn Close should be nominated for the Academy Award. Another post suggested that it’s the scariest film ever made. My curiosity got the best of me. So, I curled up on the couch with my roommate, searched for it on Netflix, and we delved into the world of The Deliverance.

It was during the opening credits that I discovered this film was directed by Lee Daniels and it was about maybe ten minutes or so into the film that I pieced together the clues that this was a film adaptation of the very real Latoya Ammons story. She and her family moved into a new home in Gary, Indiana which was reportedly infested with demonic entities which resulted in her children supposedly being possessed. A DCS agent and a nurse reportedly witnessed Ammons’ son crawl backwards up a hospital wall. It was a shocking story which shook the world back in 2011 and for such a respected dramatic director taking on a horrific possession story? My expectations were elevated.

You can easily split this move into two halves. The first half is that dramatic film about a family on the verge of breaking in the face of domestic abuse and alcoholism. The second half is that horror film about a child being possessed by the Devil. The first half is the favorable side where the drama of the character’s plight drives the story. We feel their struggles from within and without as the mother battles an internal battle with raising her kids, staying above water financially, and severe alcoholism. Her mother, played by Glenn Close, is slowly dying of cancer and has a disturbing checkered past with her daughter who was heavily implied to be sexually abused by her mother’s lovers. Her three children also tread through this mentally and spiritually draining environment. This could all be considered a demon’s playground. Despite the dour nature of the first half, there is a certain cynical sense of humor that permeates the film whether it’s an off hand comeback, the way the mother and daughter snipe at each other, or Mo’Nique’s very presence. I suppose that is just the way that black people deal with trauma, similar to how Indigenous people use humor to tell stories. Unfortunately, it just works against the film by not entirely being so serious that the threat of this demonic entity is real.

The second half is really where the film goes off the rails in the worst way possible. Never have I seen a movie start off so promisingly by approaching a demonic possession story from such a unique angle only to have it then nosedive into complete and utter horse manure. The film suffers from the one trope that, apparently, must be in every demonic possession movie ever made: a person of faith with a crucifix screaming at a demon to “leave this child in the name of the Lord” while people levitate and are flung left and right while a wind machine blows every which way. It goes from an exemplary human drama to one of the most basic, lazy demonic possessions ever put to film.

Honestly? The Deliverance may have been better as a completely separate story away from the Latoya Ammons incident. It is ironic to see now that a director like Jordan Peele with comedic background can make amazing horror films while a dramatic director like Lee Daniels can make terrible horror films. Perhaps real life horror is best for Daniels to stick to as opposed to the fantastical. The Deliverance has a strong opening with damaged people doing what they can to survive in the face of adversity but embarrassingly falters in its third act by delivering the most average demonic possession ever. It can’t decide whether to be a solid human drama or the worst exorcism movie you’ve ever seen and what it ends up being is so mismatched and unbalanced that it makes Russell Crowe’s The Exorcism look like The Exorcist III. So, can I suggest The Deliverance? Sure, if you’ve got Netflix. Go right ahead; burn a couple of hours. You gotta make use of that subscription somehow, right? Would I ever suggest watching it theatrically? Absolutely not. Which is why I give The Deliverance—

2.5 Vodka Bottles out of 5

The Deliverance is now available on Netflix and is Rated R for violent content, language throughout and some sexual references.