You don’t have to look too hard to find a fairly straightforward supernatural horror movie about demonic possession these days, but The Exorcism of God does at least try to put a novel spin on the formula by positioning a man of the cloth who resolutely failed in his area of expertise at the heart of the story.
Released to little fanfare earlier this year, co-writer and director Alejandro Hidalgo’s tale stars Will Beinbrink as Father Peter Williams, an American who endured an exorcism gone wrong that saw him possessed by the entity he was trying to expel, forcing him to commit an unforgivable sin.
Fast forward 18 years, and the priest is now living in a small Mexican village trying to atone for his sins by helping the needy. Naturally, his old spiritual foe returns to inhabit one of the locals, while doubling down on its malevolence by unleashing a plague-like illness on the children.
It’s all a game, though, with the naughty demon trying to manipulate Father Williams into confessing his darkest secret, which would save the girl’s life but also damn him to excommunication from the church, ruin his life, condemn his soul, and see him lose his faith once and for all.
The Exorcism of God drew decent notices from critics, and while it should be commended for the way the story presents its protagonist (who is ostensibly a terrible person), it struggles to evolve beyond formula. Not that Google Play Movies customers seem to mind, given that the ambitious-if-misjudged chiller can be found sitting pretty on the platform’s global chart, as per FlixPatrol.
