The Exorcism of God, directed by Alejandro Hidalgo was released on March 11, 2022. The director has also been the producer and scriptwriter of this movie. From the title, it’s guessable that the movie has taken a seat in the Horror Genre.
Needless to say, the title itself creates excitement among the audience. There have been exorcism movies prior to this film, but this title created hype. The movie brings both the religious and horror content together but also delivers a beautiful message. The run time of the movie is 1 hour 39 minutes.
This article is going to be narrowed down to the main question which is, “Did this movie create hype as the title did?”
Storyline
This story is unique from other horror scripts as both the protagonist and antagonist are the same character. This story is built on the character of priest Peter Williams.
Peter Williams is an American priest, working in Mexico and serving the community. People there view him as a saint and would love to be around him. His character is shown as if, he is the most respected person in that entire village.
The movie starts with Peter performing an exorcism on a girl named Magali. The demon in the possessed girl seduces the priest and makes him commit a sexual crime, which is against the holy law for a priest. He feels guilty for his actions. The first scene ends there and the story now takes a leap of 18 years.
Peter still carries the dark and dirty secret within himself as he is a saintly figure in his community. He was not ready to confess his sins as he knew the consequences. He might be even stopped from continuing his service to God and his people. So, even though he knew it was wrong and was worrying deep down, he didn’t spill out his dark secrets.
18 years later, the Balaban is back again in the village. This time he possesses Esparanza, daughter of Magali. The evil also affects as many people as possible in town. This time Priest Peter calls his fellow priest Michael Lewis to bring the situation under control.
The story is escalated after the entry of Father Michael. He adds some humor to the horrific story. He helped in maintaining both the entertainment and horror. Meanwhile, Peter gets weird dreams and makes him realize that the demon is back again to hunt him down for the sin he has committed.
This film is all about how Priest Peter fights within him and the demon and restores peace in his beautiful community.
Movie Cast
As previously mentioned, both the antagonist and the protagonist of this film is Father Peter Williams and this entire script and the storyline is the consequences of his sin. Will Beinbrink has brilliantly played the role of Peter Williams.
Magali, the possessed woman at the beginning of the film was played by Iran Castillo. Esparenza, the daughter to Magali was played by Maria Gabriella De Faria. Apart from this cast we also have Juan Ignacio Aranda who played the role of the Bishop in town.
The entry of Father Michael Lewis added a wonderful essence to the whole story. This role was played by Joseph Marcel.
Review
There were many positive elements to this story. Many horror movies have performed in the exorcism genre, but this movie is definitely different from the previous exorcism movies and can be seen as an above-average movie.
The cinematography at night, the locations, and the special effects were all a treat to the eyes. Ghost makeup was not over-done. The movie had a reasonable number of jump scares.
Speaking about the character of Peter Williams, there is a dilemma to be the person he is versus what the world wants him to see. He was guilty about whatever he has done in the past but was scared to unveil his dark secrets and later realizes that it is his sin, which hunts people down.
Joseph Marcel was a brilliant option for Michael Lewis. His unspoken statement in the movie was that the horror genre need not be always about jump scares, ghosts, possessed people, and spine-chilling horror sounds. He sprinkled the essence of his humor in the horror movie as well. He balanced the movie so that it can be good entertainment and at the same time, it also does justice to the horror.
Above all the characters, there is a beautiful message hidden in this horror film. Usually, films in the horror genre don’t convey any message. They are just for entertainment purposes. But, this film definitely conveys a message. The take-away from this movie is that sin is always a sin, even if people watch it or don’t. Sooner or later, you will have to pay for whatever you have done.
If Peter has realized his mistake earlier and asked for repentance, then the story would not have taken place. This story is all about the punishment for a sin committed to private.
Rating
Well, you must have guessed the rating right already. Yes, this film is rated R. This film has adult content in the beginning and as the title says, the film is also subjected to horror. These are the obvious reasons that this film has been given this rating.
IMDb has rated this movie a 5.5/ 10 and Rotten tomatoes have given a rating of 50%.
Stream it or Skip it?
The Exorcism of God 2022, made is world premium in movie halls. Apart from movie halls, there are various digital platforms that are streaming this movie. Some of the platforms are Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, and Google Play.
The answer to the question of these platforms should stream it or skip it would be. YES, Stream the movie. Why not? The story apart from having the usual horror effects, jump scares and the ghost also has a different storyline. As already mentioned, Joseph Marcel was a good pick for the cast.
Conclusion
This article began with the question; did the film create hype as the title did? I would say yes, it did. Even though, this film has not set high bars to exorcism and horror movies; this was definitely not below the bars set by the industry as well.
The Exorcism of God (2022) is surely a movie for all horror genre lovers and for people who are expecting something different than usual.
