The Exorcism of Saint Patrick (2024) by Quinn Armstrong

Director: Quinn Armstrong

Year: 2024

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Ghosts

Plot:

After arriving at a remote cabin, a priest starts to work on an extreme form of conversion therapy against a gay teen in his charge which soon goes wrong when the teen commits suicide, bringing him and several other ghosts who have been wronged by this treatment in the past back to haunt him.

Review:

Overall, this was a rather enjoyable effort. One of the finer features here is the incredibly effective and worthwhile starting point that develops nicely into a strong genre piece. Focusing heavily early on of a psychologically unhinged relationship between the two alone out in the cabin where his tactics and treatment attempt to work out the sexual orientation the kid shares which provides this with more than enough justification and motivation for what’s going on. The physical, emotional, and verbal abuse suffered at his hands which is all later shown to be approved by his parents due to their consent to everything all for the sake of his soul adds even more fuel to what’s going on as everything takes place at the camp allows for a solid and engaging setup.

After this point, the film does go for a rather formulaic ghost revenge effort that still builds nicely off what came before it. Since the build-up at the camp makes the events feel justified and warranted, the haunting scenes that come about here have quite a bit of impact with their justification coming from the previous treatment the son and numerous others have been subjected to as their karmic retribution has the appropriate work behind it. However, the action used to accomplish this is basic and extremely predictable, resulting in plenty of these scenes leaving a disappointing feeling with so many repetitive aspects coming into play with these scenes. It’s not as detrimental as it sounds since the scenes are still fun with the karmic retribution attached but it does diminish the film.

Overview: **.5/5

A serviceable enough genre effort even with some issues, there’s enough to like here while being let down by some crippling issues that may or may not be as big of a deal for all viewers out there. Those who enjoy this kind of story or appreciate the style of indie presentation on display will have the most to like here while those turned off by the drawbacks on display should heed caution with this one.