The Deliverance
Introduction
Lee Daniels is not a director you take lightly. With movies like Monster’s Ball (2001) and shows like Empire (2015-2020), he has pretty much created a cult following of his own. Especially with his nuanced handling of African American characters. So when I came to know of his latest offering, The Deliverance, a horror movie with a (mostly) African American cast, I was excited and immediately on board. The movie recently premiered on Netflix,but has left me underwhelmed. Why, you ask? Read on.
Story & Screenplay
Ebony (Andra Day) moves into a new house (surprise surprise) with her white mother Alberta (an ever reliable Glenn Close) and her three children. Much like any other horror movie, strange things start happening around the house, and especially to the kids, with the youngest of them Andre (Anthony Jenkins) being the worst affected. Strange smells, weird noises, and everything you expect in a horror movie happen. And if you think there will be some twist to the story, you will be sadly mistaken. As this is one totally by-the-numbers horror movie. There is a possession (of course), there is a ‘Deliverance’ (because exorcisms are too mainstream nowadays), and there are some unintentionally funny scenes. The screenplay is extremely slow, and takes forever to get to the point. The writers clearly wanted to make a slow burn horror where things happen in the shadows, and we only see the after effects. But in the process, they end up making a boring snoozefest of a movie, which doesn’t even deliver jump scares (which, I despise, by the way, but at least they are entertaining). The writers also fail to make us care for the characters. All the adults are unlikeable in the movie, and we know nothing about the kids for us to actually feel something for their characters.
Direction
As mentioned earlier in the review, Lee Daniels is a fine director. But he horribly misfires this one. He could’ve done a lot more with the characters, other than have them bicker constantly. But he fails to rise above the inept writing, and as a result, the movie remains insipid. Daniels also avoids jump scares – something that I respect. But in this case, it backfires, as it makes the film even more dull. For the first hour of the film, there is nothing of note happening, other than characters bickering with one another, and their house stinking. For the other hour (kudos if you could make this far), we get a been-there-done-that possession story. Something the likes of Vikram Bhatt back here in India, will be proud of. Daniels also couldn’t extract the best out of his cast and crew. The movie could’ve done with chopping at least 30 unnecessary minutes. Even the background score (the most essential element in a horror movie) is lazily done and doesn’t manage to evoke any tension.
Performances
It’s not particularly the actors’ fault that this movie fails to deliver. Andra Day as Ebony is solid in her role of an alcoholic single mother dealing with a lust filled mother, rebellious kids, and mounting bills (oh, and also, demons). Glenn Close is the standout as the badass grandmother of the kids, who doesn’t mind flirting with men half her age. Really, this actor can pull anything off. Caleb McLaughlin (of Stranger Things fame) does okay in his role. But I have always considered him to be the weakest actor in the ‘original 4’ of Stranger Things, and even here, he fails to stand out. Demi Singleton as Ebony’s daughter Shante has pretty much nothing to do, as she has the most under written role in the movie. Anthony Jenkins as Andre gets most of the horror scenes. However, they look more funny than scary. But I wouldn’t be too harsh on Jenkins, as he’s still a kid, and it’s not his fault.
Conclusion
The Deliverance is a tired, boring horror film that does nothing for the genre. Almost everything in this movie is something you’ve seen before, and there are literally no thrills or chills. Now streaming on Netflix.