Elements of horror run rampant in most of Lee Daniels‘s films, whether it’s the ferocious nature of Mo’Nique as an abusive mother in Precious (2009) or the antagonistic nature of the FBI jailing Billie Holiday in The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021). The Deliverance (2024) finds Daniels entering a different type of horror: supernatural.
Loosely inspired by the real-life story of the Ammons haunting case (very much in line with many exorcist inspired-by-a-true-story films), Daniels finds himself at odds with his sensibilities as a dramatist and the machinations of a horror film. Even when Daniels leans into camp territory, such as in The Paperboy (2012), his wild, idiosyncratic direction always aligns with the volatility of his narratives and characters. That volatility exists when Daniels depicts the struggles of abusive trauma within black families yet is half-implemented once the freaky possessions start taking over.
Ebony Jackson (Andra Day) is a single mother raising three children in a house they’ve recently bought in rural Pittsburgh. Nate (Caleb McLaughlin), Shante (Demi Singleton), and Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins) have plenty to deal with on their own: an absent father (it’s alluded that he’s deployed in the army), never having enough money for birthday presents (or for mortgage payments), and dealing with their alcoholic mother who reverts to degradement for effective parenting. Ebony’s cancer-stricken mother, Alberta (an exaggerated Glenn Close), remains a fixture of the household, having found religious redemption after she abused Ebony for years.
Soon the house starts receiving visitors, such as dank smells, dead animals in the basement, and swarms of flies. Andre even hears voices and finds himself frequenting the basement. Ebony soon realizes her home is cursed after a family was brutally murdered there years ago, as told by Reverend Bernice James (Aunganue Ellis-Taylor), and now her children are falling into a similar demonic possession.
If that’s not enough, Ebony has a cutthroat social worker, Cynthia (Mo’Nique), who believes the bruises and traumatized children are a result of Ebony’s actions.
A lot happens in this intimate family drama set against a possession horror film. Yet, the film feels just as disjointed and unfocused as the plot description. There’s never a strong perspective showing the viewer how to approach the movie. Daniels uses family dysfunction as a metaphor for the possession and hauntings surrounding Ebony and her family. Are their traumas inducing this horror since they’re vulnerable to powerful forces? There’s much to ask and plenty to chew on, yet Daniels sloppily mashes elements without a cohesive narrative.
David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum’s script is disjointed. Ebony’s mothering is front-and-center as the real horror the children witness. It’s a territory Daniels is familiar with; if this were a straightforward drama of a fractured family under pressure from external and internal forces of the household, that would be plentiful.
That sloppiness also extends to the tonal clashes. The first half is somber and dour, examining a financially and emotionally fraught family on the verge of breaking. Once the horror tropes of tongue-speaking and devilish voices from the children start, the film pivots to camp. Most camp comes from Close’s performance, playing the whitest, trashiest grandma one could imagine. Sporting ripped jeans and excessive eyeliner, it’s clear Close was directed to be broad and bubbly to contrast Day’s fiery abrasiveness, but the light-heartedness does nothing but emphasize the tonal whiplash.
The scenes where Ebony explodes with anger and physical violence towards her children have a genuine palpable fear. As the oldest of the trio, Nate feels resentful of having a pathetic mom. Ebony is a complicated character. One scene finds her sucker-punching a bully who picks on Nate, making it clear she’s not a mother to be messed with. But then she’ll tussle with Nate after he comes home late. Unfortunately, the demonic tropes and typical beats of the exorcism genre feel forced, undercutting the melodrama into a full-forced fright-fest with a deranged third act.
This also speaks to Daniels’s inability to have a firm grasp on the materials, losing sight of the children’s perspectives. The result is a traditional possession thriller with no new angles to invoke dread. After dozens of possession horror movies that involve body limbs twisting, cut-up faces, and dead black eyes, Daniels does nothing new to make the central thesis of the film feel warranted. The unique angle of an abusive mother coming off as more demonic and monstrous than a literal possession is a fascinating penetration into the genre, yet Daniels seems uninterested in the moral complexities of an abusive, loving mother parenting her children.
Day, though, is genuinely fantastic. Fresh from her previous Daniels collaboration that netted her an Oscar nomination, Ebony feels right in line with Daniels’s monstrous mother in Precious. There’s a battered nature to her persona, at times feeling like her children are baggage due to her inability to build a life, but she is also the only force on earth that will fight for them, even to her detriment.
Between bullies, mortgage lenders pestering her for late payments, and a social worker finding any excuse to remove the children from the home, Day’s character has no time or patience to shower her children with love. Her short-tempered nature comes from a lineage of abuse. Yet, the quiet, tender moments she has with her children speak volumes, making her far more multilayered.
The Deliverance is sleek, well-produced, and stacked with an Oscar-friendly cast, yet ultimately feels directionless. Daniels is aimless in his usage of actual demons — who possess people, bend body limbs, and say explicit, sexually charged phrases — as metaphors for personal demons.
The first half finds Daniels treading in familiar but powerful territory, one that presents a unique angle into the possession genre. Sadly, the execution feels forced and hurried without providing a cathartic climax or a thrilling exercise in genre. Like Ebony, the film is rough around its edges, yet the heart is sincere and honest. If only Daniels could foster and nurture his film properly instead of throwing the baby with the bathwater.
Review Courtesy of Amritpal Rai
Feature Image Credit to Netflix via Yahoo Entertainment