Film Review | Deliver Us From Evil
A dark and eerie exorcism tale
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A bizarre story of exorcism and bonding between an unconventional priest and a policeman with remarkable instincts, Deliver Us From Evil is based on a book about the true-life experiences of New York City police officer Ralph Sarchie.
Director Scott Derrickson brings his experience with the genre (The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister) to create an eerie world where normal people are behaving abnormally, violently and inexplicably. When all the evidence points to a cause beyond the primal and living world, when the supernatural world starts colliding with his own life, Sarchie (Eric Bana) accepts priest Mendoza’s (Edgar Ramirez) methods for ritual exorcism.
The story opens in war-torn Iraq circa 2010 as three soldiers encounter a strange occurrence in a cave. Three years later, Sarchie finds himself drawn to cases that seem to be connected somehow. The film is largely shot at night, or in the dark—the first step towards building suspense, and Derrickson delivers eerie in spades. A zoo during a blackout, a basement from where unexplained noises emanate, a scratching sound that horrifies Sarchie’s own daughter and so on.
Like all good exorcism films, this one too includes one major scene where the devil is ejected from the body of the victim. It’s hard not to want to avert your eyes and that makes up, marginally, for the otherwise clichéd screenplay.
Deliver Us From Evil released in theatres on Friday
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