‘The Exorcist’ from 1973 will continue to be one of the greatest horror movies ever made. While the horror icon had a bunch of sequels and spin-offs, none of them really managed to up the original. That may just change as the trailer of the upcoming film ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ looks deliciously spooky.
‘Believer’ is set in the same continuity as the original and the trailer tells the story of how a widower Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) struggles to save the life of his young daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) after she and her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum) vanish suddenly one day only to reappear days later seemingly possessed by demonic entities in a bit of ‘Evil Dead’ style, though not packing its morbid and dark humour.
The movie is the first in line for two planned movies, the other being ‘The Exorcist: Deceiver’ which is planned for a 2025 release. The official synopsis for the film reads: “Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom, Jr.) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett) on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil. In his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil", the statement further read.
With ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ and later with ‘Deceiver’, Green aims to continue the original story and expand on the existing mythology rather than rebooting it, which makes the Devil all the more evil and chaotic.
Much like it was in the original, here too parents get desperate for help, and track down Burstyn's character, whose young daughter (Linda Blair) was once possessed by an evil entity known as Pazuzu, a demonic entity whose evil and vile sense of humour knew no bounds.
The story for ‘Believer’ marks in an interesting turn in ‘The Exorcist’ universe, as the story will revolve around not one, but two possessions, both equally evil and malicious while at the same time being bound by a sort of common connecting thread with the spiritual practices outside of the Roman Catholic domain that deal with demonic expulsion.
Essentially it’s as if Catholicism’s exorcist practices in itself have some influence from black magic and Satanic rituals making the two have some sort of bizarre connection in this universe.
But given how much of an influence the original 1973 classic has had on the horror genre and its possession-focused subset, and with ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ embarking on the same continuity aiming to expand on the existing universe, the viewers are going to see a different subset of demonic possessions and its accompanying turmoil, which unsettle and disturb audiences in a way similar to the original.
‘The Exorcist: Believer’ is slated to hit theaters on October 13, 2023 though because of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, much like ‘Beetlejuice 2’, may possibly get delayed.
