Netflix’s New Horror Movie Is Terrific To Watch After Blumhouse's Divisive 2023 Sequel To $661 Million Franchise (2024)

Netflix continues to add new content to all its categories every week, and it has built a solid horror catalog over the years – and its newest horror movie is a great watch after a similar but divisive Blumhouse sequel from 2023. The horror genre has seen great success in recent years thanks to the ongoing trend of reboots and legacy sequels, but one branch that will always attract the attention and curiosity of the audience is movies based on true stories. Netflix has a variety of these, and in the horror genre, the latest addition is The Deliverance.

Directed by Lee Daniels, The Deliverance is based on the real-life Ammons haunting case, which is also known as the 200 Demons House or simply Demon House. The Deliverance follows Ebony Jackson (Andra Day) and her family, who begin to experience increasingly strange events at their home that make them believe there are sinister presences in the house and that it might be a portal to hell. The Deliverance is now available to stream on Netflix, and thanks to its themes, it’s a fitting watch after an anticipated but disappointing Blumhouse sequel from 2023.

The Deliverance Is Very Similar To 2023's The Exorcist: Believer

Two Very Similar Stories About Exorcisms

The Deliverance sees Ebony, who deals with substance-use disorder, and her children moving into a mysterious house, where the children begin to show signs of demonic possession. Ebony turns to Reverend Bernice James (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) for help as the children keep acting erratically and other strange events keep occurring at the house, so James performs a deliverance ritual. The Deliverance follows the same model as many other stories about demonic possession, exorcisms, and haunted houses, but it’s especially similar to The Exorcist: Believer.

Directed by David Gordon Green, The Exorcist: Believer is the sixth installment in The Exorcist franchise and a direct sequel to the 1973 classic, thus ignoring all previous sequels. The Exorcist: Believer follows Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.), whose daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) and her best friend Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) become possessed by an evil force after performing a séance to contact Angela’s mother. Victor and Katherine’s parents resort to methods from different cultures to exorcise their children, with surprising but tragic results.

The core of both The Deliverance and The Exorcist: Believer are the demonic possessions of children and the efforts of their parents to save them, as well as the effects of such a traumatic experience on the entire family. The Deliverance is a fitting watch after The Exorcist: Believer, but, unfortunately, they both have another thing in common: they weren’t the critics’ favorites.

How The Deliverance's Reviews Compare To The Exorcist: Believer

The Deliverance Didn’t Do Well With Critics, Either

The Deliverance and The Exorcist: Believer have very low critics’ scores on Rotten Tomatoes, getting “rotten” labels – however, The Deliverance has a “fresh” audience score of 77%, while The Exorcist: Believer is “rotten” in both categories. It’s important to note that The Deliverance’s current critics’ score is based on less than 50 reviews, which could still go higher if more critics add their reviews (and assuming they liked it, of course). The main criticism of The Deliverance is how it failed to be an exorcism story, though it did well with the drama in the Jackson family.

Many critics pointed out the cast of The Deliverance as the movie’s real strength (though some weren’t fully on board with Day and Mo’Nique’s performances), but the biggest flaw of the movie is its lack of scares. Most critics agree that The Deliverance is a great family drama but was ruined by Daniels’ attempt to make a horror movie out of it. The Exorcist: Believer, on the other hand, was criticized for not bringing anything new to the franchise and for its messy plot, as well as for being an “unnecessary” sequel.

Meanwhile, the audience’s reaction to The Deliverance has been a lot more positive. Viewers have praised the performances of the cast, particularly Glenn Close’s, and though it doesn’t stand out from other possession movies, it has been labeled as “entertaining” and worth watching. As for the audience’s reaction to The Exorcist: Believer, most agreed with critics that it was an unnecessary sequel, disappointing, and lacked scares.

Why Netflix's The Deliverance Movie Has Divided Critics So Much

The Deliverance Has Its Defenders & Haters

Despite its “rotten” certificate, The Deliverance has some positive reviews that make it a divisive movie. As mentioned above, the performances of the cast are the biggest strengths of the movie to most critics, but even for those who were disappointed by the lack of horror, The Deliverance was an entertaining watch. The mix of family drama with supernatural elements caught the attention of some critics, and many appreciated the deeper meaning and social commentary in it. The Deliverance might not go down in film history as a must-watch exorcism movie, but it makes an interesting watch after The Exorcist: Believer.

The Deliverance

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R

A woman returns to her childhood home to confront dark secrets from her past. As supernatural forces emerge and family tensions rise, she must uncover the truth behind her haunting visions and protect her loved ones from an ancient evil threatening their lives.

Director

Lee Daniels

Release Date

August 30, 2024

Cast

Andra Day , Glenn Close , Caleb McLaughlin , Demi Singleton , Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor , Tasha Smith , Omar Epps , Christina Wren