The Deliverance Movie Review

2024

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I stumbled on The Deliverance while scrolling through Netflix. To be fair, I wasn’t even seeking out a horror flick, but I saw Andra Day and Glenn Close were in it and thought, “What the hell? I’ll give it a shot.” By the ending credits, I was ready to move on. The film follows the true story of a woman named Latoya Ammons and her family, who inspired the characters for the film. Ebony Jackson (Andra Day) is a single mother with a troubled past who moves into a new house with her three kids (two sons and a daughter). Her mother, Alberta (Glenn Close), also lives with them as she battles cancer. From the start, we see a complicated story of financial struggles, health issues, and a very involved Child Protective Services worker, Cynthia Henry (Mo’Nique). As most horror films go, the slow burn increases to things happening in and around the house. Dead animals showing up, the youngest making friends with a ghost named Tre, the other kids acting all weird. Eventually, the situation gets worse and not only does Ebony have to deal with CPS, but now there’s a demon in her home and she doesn’t know what to do. Leaving the bar one day, Ebony is surprised by someone she thinks is with CPS. It turns out this person is Reverend Bernice James (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) who, of course, spills all the beans on what happened in the house, who the demon could be, and how to solve the problem. With help from Reverend Bernice and Cynthia, Ebony works to protect her children and restore some level of normalcy.

Let’s get something out of the way at the start. This movie has some well-established talent involved. Not only is it directed by Academy Award nominee Lee Daniels, but it also stars Andra Day, Glenn Close, and Mo’Nique. All that means is it’s not your run-of-the-mill, low budget YouTube short.

The acting is fantastic and Andra Day is just dynamite. For the first half of the movie, it felt like a genuine drama rather than a horror film, and I actually really enjoyed it. Once it picked up with the horror aspects, it did pick up quick but a lot of it felt pretty predictable. For the unpredictable stuff that happened, I wasn’t necessarily in a state of “Wow,” but more confusion. 

At one point, Ebony’s youngest possessed son breaks the restraints in the hospital and climbs up the wall backwards…how? There’s a shapeshifting element involved at the end where the son turns into possessed Glenn Close who then turns into a possessed version of Andra Day who she ultimately fights…how? And then as Andra Day is fighting the demon version of herself, she whips out some foreign language, the demon combusts, and then is dragged back to presumably Hell through a hole in the basement…how?

*Courtesy of Netflix

While I have to ask how a lot of this happened, maybe it’s better to just enjoy it? Not to question the supernatural or religious elements involved with the paranormal? Remember that it’s just a movie? Whatever it is, Andra Day went 10 rounds with the devil and won by knockout—and I loved it.

For our scores above, the acting, pacing, and cinematography were great. Was it scary, plot-twisting, and rewatchable? Not really, but that’s just one man’s opinion. The fact this has roots in a true story is what’s crazy to think about. Reading about Latoya’s story after seeing the film gave me more goosebumps than the actual watch.

Main image courtesy of Netflix

What we find in the end is Ebony’s transformation from her more harsh personality of the film’s first half, to one of acceptance in the second. The ending stretch of this film involves a deliverance, which is an exorcism of sorts. What’s happened leading up to this point is all three of Ebony’s kids exhibited incredibly strange behavior in public, leading to them being taken from her. Her youngest, Andre, was put in the hospital and with the help of Reverend James, Ebony takes him from the hospital and sets up this “deliverance” in her living room. Reverend James begins to throw holy water on the boy and all of a sudden he becomes Glenn Close’s character of a possessed Alberta. The deliverance takes a turn when the possessed Andre fatally wounds the reverend, who blames her fear as the reason the demon overpowered her. She sneaks Ebony some holy water in a small vile. Ebony takes the fight to the basement and is ultimately overpowered by a demon version of herself. She starts to experience flashbacks and is reminded of her mother’s faith, which gives her the ability to start rattling off bible verses in another language. The demon self-combusts and is sucked into Hell through a hole that appears in a basement. All that’s left is an exhausted Ebony and Andre on the floor. We see in the end that Ebony has confronted her troubled past and is ready to be the mother her kids need.
  • Scare Score
  • 2
  • Camp Score
  • 1
  • Acting Score
  • 6
  • Music Score
  • 4
  • Rewatchability Score
  • 2
  • Originality Score
  • 4
  • Pacing Score
  • 6
  • Cinematography Score
  • 6
  • Attentativness Score
  • 4
  • Plot Twist Score
  • 3

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