Film Review

The Exorcism (2024) — promising horror possesses few ideas and little spirit

A troubled actor begins exhibiting a disruptive behaviour while shooting a horror film, but is something more sinister at play?

Were we to make a snap judgment about the fears of modern film audiences based on the past decade of horror movies then we might come away with the assumption that we’re a devoutly religious generation, terrified of the power of the devil and his demons. The 2010s were dominated by The Conjuring (2013) and its spin-off universe, where all manner of (mostly) Satanic spookies had to be fended off by the ancient and unwavering power of faith.

The new Satanic Panic hasn’t shown any signs of abating this decade either, but at least now we’re being offered more provocative and salacious material — the sacrilegious stalwart Paul Verhoeven gave us Benedetta (2021), while Arkasha Stevenson’s fiendishly brilliant The First Omen (2024) ranks amongst the finest horrors of the year so far.