THE DELIVERANCE

The Deliverance absolutely wastes the talents of its brilliant lead cast, conjuring up a laughable, poorly written and not even remotely scary “horror” film that is easily the worst horror film of the year and sets a new low for Netflix original films.

When your film stars three Academy Award nominated actresses, one Academy Award winning actress, and is written and directed by a two time Academy Award nominee, you have a certain expectation that it is going to be a good film… even if it is a Netflix original film. But The Deliverance defies the odds and squanders its incredibly talented cast, delivering the worst horror film of the year to date. And that is saying something as there have been some bad horror films this year. Lee Daniels, who has been behind awards nominated films such as Precious, The Butler and The United States vs. Billie Holiday, has turned his eye to the horror genre and assembled a truly talented cast of actresses featuring Andra Day, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Mo’Nique, bringing an African-American lens to the exorcism horror subgenre. Much like previous recent duds in this subgenre like The Exorcism, Pray for the Devil and The Exorcist: Believer, The Deliverance fails to be even remotely scary and induces far too many eye rolls given the abysmal writing, that not even the marketing of being inspired by a true story will create chills in viewers. But, it’s so terrible that it somehow makes these aforementioned films come across as pretty good in comparison, which speaks volumes about The Deliverance’s quality.

Almost immediately, it is evident that the writing is going to be the downfall of The Deliverance. The screenplay perpetuates negative stereotypes that are too often seen in cinema regarding African American characters, and tries to humanize these stereotypes through the film's main family and their struggles by trying to get the audience to empathize with their plights. But this backfires at every turn, as it is hard for the audience to focus on the character and distracted by the fact that we have to watch a struggling black family with generational trauma, addiction and neglect on screen in such a disrespectful manner. As a family drama that attempts to invest the audience in the characters before the horror elements kick in, The Deliverance squanders any chance it has of keeping viewers engaged in the story, which only worsens the overall experience when it turns out the film is not even remotely scary.

When it comes to the horror elements, it feels like Daniels and his team are running through a checklist of what a possession and exorcism film needs to have. Children climbing on walls, uncontrollable actions while characters appear to be sleepwalking through life, untimely deaths, religious assistance from a spiritual individual trying to rid the world of evil, and an exorcism scene to mark the film’s climax, there is truly nothing missing from The Deliverance. But, while it has all the required scenes, none of them comes across as terrifying. Instead, the film feels bland and uneventful as you watch required situations in the subgenre playout as the characters either make dumb choices or miss the obvious sitting right in front of them. And by the time the film enters the big climatic exorcism scene, well… It's one of the most laughably bad sequences I have yet to watch this year, only worsened when the secret to defeating the devil is revealed. It feels like a child came up with the ending, but even children are more imaginative and creative than what audiences are given to resolve the story. The fact that it is inspired by a true story doesn’t help to up the scare factor, as sometimes knowing that the events potentially happened can make a horror movie scarier, but when it comes to The Deliverance you instead feel bad that someone’s life is being exploited in a truly awful Netflix film.

Even with a cast that includes Day, Close, Ellis-Taylor and Mo’Nique, not even their combined talents can elevate the poorly constructed and bland screenplay they are given. Reuniting with Daniels after he directed her in her Academy Award nominated performance, Day pours herself into the lead character of Ebony. It’s not a bad performance, but when you are left with playing a walking stereotype and not in a good way, no performance is going to salvage the character. Close, well it’s not a great performance at all and it feels like she is daring the universe to give her a Razzie award after being passed over for an Academy Award eight times, and the wigs are not helping her either! As with every role she has, Ellis-Taylor brings a gravitas to the film as Reverend Bernice James as her caring and dedication grounds the film every time she is on screen. Though, her good performance is sadly out of place in an otherwise terrible film. And Mo’Nique, while you can’t help but admire her screen presence as the outspoken and caring Cynthia is a force to be reckoned with, but her performance truly flounders when it matters most, coming across as comical when that was not the intention of the screenplay. Caleb McLaughlin, Anthony B. Jenkins and Demi Singleton, the young actors portraying Ebony’s children, are all good and bring the requisite creepiness to the film while their characters are possessed, but their efforts are otherwise lost in a messy film.

Audiences will no doubt be exclaiming “praise Jesus” after watching The Deliverance, but not because they are praying for their souls out of fear, but proclaiming their joy that this absolute trainwreck of a film has finally ended if they actually managed to sit all the way through it. Normally Netflix films are bad but for the most part they have some sort of entertainment value, but The Deliverance is the exact opposite of entertaining and has no enjoyable aspects whatsoever. Dull, poorly written and laughable at best, down right disrespectful of the audience and its characters for the most part, The Deliverance is an embarrassment on every front. Even with the casting of Andra Day, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Mo’Nique, who are all talented and do the best with the script they are handed, The Deliverance needs an exorcism performed on it because the abysmal screenplay makes it one of the worst films of the year.