Why The Exorcist: Believer Failed

The Exorcist: Believer Misses The Point Entirely

This poor franchise history does not excuse The Exorcist: Believer's failings, however. Directed by Green, who co-developed the story alongside Halloween scribes Danny McBride and Scott Teems, alongside new collaborator Peter Sattler, Believer is, by all accounts, a typification of every boring conversation that has ever been had about The Exorcist. Said conversations have historically tended to relitigate whether Friedkin's film is worthy of its "scariest movie of all time" tagline. The Exorcist is scary, of course, but the issue is that the mythology that has been built around the film is largely focused on that scare and shock element, and that seems to be where Believer has sourced its entire understanding of Blatty's story from.

This failure to grasp the soul of the text is exacerbated by Believer's mostly reiterative approach. It lifts the same structure from Friedkin's film, concluding with a grand exorcism sequence but without any of the heart that was there in its progenitor. Equally as bad is how Green fumbles at the "requel" tropes he established with 2018's Halloween, pointlessly bringing back Burstyn's Chris like she's a Laurie Strode figure before removing her from the film unceremoniously towards the end. Such a move may have played better five years ago, but since Halloween, we've had Scream (2022), Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Candyman (2021), all of which brought back characters or cast members from previous installments to maintain franchise legacies. With Believer, this approach now feels more formulaic than ever - right on down to Green and Co. planning a trilogy the same way they did with Halloween.

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