Director: David Gordon Greene
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Exorcism
Plot:
After going missing in the woods, a pair of girls are found alive several days later with no memory of what happened but the feeling that something is off about them, and when it becomes obvious that something evil has returned the girls force their parents to turn to a personality to deal with them.
Review:
There was almost nothing to like about this one. Its positive points extend almost exclusively to the technical qualities featured here which is the typical slick, glossy high-end studio product like this should be. It's not a surprise that this carries the type of sheen you'd expect in a film like this which extends to the gruesome make-up work on the possessed during the fateful exorcism scenes as well as the content within the exorcism scenes. While there's nothing new here in these moments, that there's some energy to the proceedings is a choice to be taken here which is a decidedly decent factor for this one and is the main part that holds this up for the most part.
Beyond that, though, there's just nothing about this one that works. The main problem among the many is the lackluster and underwhelming story that never generates anything. The concept of the girls going missing and being found days later without any memory is a serviceable enough starting point but it's never followed up on to make sure what's happening is obvious and the treatment of the girls is quite dull as a result. Having the parents argue with each other isn't a substitute and that causes things to feel rushed and simultaneously bland overall.
On top of that, there's also the issue of how this one tends to come about building its' fateful showcase sequence. The random nature of how the priest is called upon to take up the case of exorcism is missing as if his presence wasn't important or impactful and was just in the right place at the right time. Worse off, nothing the girls do while building up to that point is all that terrifying as it amounts to the usual assortment of hushed threats, supposedly shocking superimposed faces popping up unexpectedly, or just out-of-behavior freak-outs that don't come close to being scary or interesting so the emotional resonance it tries to generate for the finale is flat and completely missing.
The last issue here is a massively overwrought and unnecessary sense of fan service present here that doesn't need to be here. The most obvious is the presence of a returning character that has no importance on the plotline as there's barely a purpose before being unceremoniously discarded like there was no need for them to be there. The connection to the original outside of that is tenuous at best and regards the finale as something completely useless with it delving into a familiar pattern of tropes and exercises that play out in fine order. It's quite hard to overlook all of this after all the other issues here, and combined make this one so underwhelming and barely worthwhile.
Overview: 0.5/5
Barely worthwhile and wholly underwhelming, the few likable factors here are so unimpactful and undermined quite easily by the other drawbacks here that they hold this back. Franchise completists, fans of the creative crew, or those who aren’t bothered and curious will be the most likely audience while everyone else should just avoid this one altogether.
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