“The Deliverance” certainly has viewers talking. Lee Daniels’ horror film, which released on Netflix Aug. 30, inspired chatter and meme-worthy content in less than a week since it premiered on the streamer. From Glenn Close’s curious role to the supernatural content itself, Daniels certainly has yet another project on his hands that’s been able to pierce through the zeitgeist.
Some viewers, however, draw the line at paranormal films in general — making a movie like “The Deliverance” just a hair too far into the spiritual for their liking. Even Daniels’ mother warned him about doing the horror film when she learned of the script, as the director told The Root earlier this year.
As one TikTok user pointed out, not even Close looking “straight up” like his auntie, will get him to watch this new movie.
“I believe in not watching movies about demons in my home,” he continued, recalling that in his childhood they would watch a lot of movies centered around “demons” and eventually they had to “move out” of their house. “I do not believe in inviting things into your home and that’s something my grandmother taught me a long time ago,” he added.
If you grew up in or around the church, you know that movies about exorcisms, demonic possession, or even magic have been controversial in those spaces, with “The Deliverance” being the latest in a long line of media flirting with those themes. From Daniels’ perspective, however, the film is less about demons and more about a “journey in finding Jesus,” he told us. “It’s about scaring you to your higher power.”
Other fans seemed to gravitate toward those Christian themes that helped to set it apart from other films about demonic possession. One user wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “The Deliverance on Netflix has to be the most Pentecostal exorcism movie ever made. The speaking in tongues, the declaration of Jesus Name combined with the special effects made it perhaps one of the most authentic expressions of a demonic deliverance session on film.”
Another wrote, “the message in deliverance was so powerful it had me in tears.”
For another group, well...“The Deliverance” simply didn’t deliver. One user wrote, “The Deliverance is such an unserious movie.” The Christian themes that seemed to draw some watchers in, pushed others away by the end. Another person wrote on X, “The ending of The Deliverance was kind of disappointing. It’s basically a Christian horror/propaganda film.”
From loving it, rebuking it, and everything in between, people have feelings about this movie one way or another. In the current media landscape — where it’s hard to create something that will hold an audience’s attention for two hours, let alone for days on end — “The Deliverance” is quite the success.