I can’t wrap my brain around Lee Daniels. He’s made some high quality dramatic films in the past such as The Butler, Precious, and The United States vs. Billie Holliday. But when he’s bad…boy, he’s REALLY bad, giving us laugh-out-loud stinkers like The Paperboy, Shadowboxer, and sadly his latest, The Deliverance. In his first foray into supernatural horror, Daniels piles on the genre cliches, hilarious racial tropes, and a horny Glenn Close in short shorts. This thing is a trip.
Andra Day reunites with Daniels in the role of Ebony, a recovering alcoholic and mother of three struggling to keep a roof over their heads while her husband is deployed overseas. And this shit isn’t going well at all. Ebony barely exerts any parental guidance over her kids, Nate (Caleb McLaughlin), Shante (Demi Singleton) and youngest Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins). When frustrated, Ebony tends to lash out both verbally and physically.
Close plays her mother Alberta, a cancer patient who rocks really loud wigs to cover her bald head. She’s also a big flirt, and clearly she digs the brothas and the brothas dig her. But Alberta only has his eyes for her nurse, Melvin, played by Omar Epps in a ridiculous do rag. We’ve seen Close make some transformations before (Albert Nobbs anyone?) but the level of cultural appropriation in this one is wild. She looks like she just fixed you a plate at the cookout. I love this rowdy exchange between mother and daughter:
Ebony: “I’ve knocked bitches teeth out for less.”
Alberta: “Then go ahead and do it, bitch.”
This is actually the most interesting part of the movie just from an entertainment standpoint. At least you can have fun with the campiness of this stuff, and to be fair, Daniels does camp pretty well. Close manages to bring some empathy to the role of Alberta in-between the vulgarities, sleeveless blouses, and ripped jeans. Formerly abusive herself, Alberta, a cigarette often tucked between her fingers, is doing her best to earn some redemption in the eyes of her grandkids and her daughter, an apple who hasn’t fallen far from the tree. A better movie could’ve done more with the bitter exchanges between this white mother and her biracial daughter, fueled by personal demons and guilt.
It’s when the occult stuff starts happening that The Deliverance becomes a bore. Daniels pulls from every exorcism film you’ve ever seen to attempt cheap scares. Ebony’s kids begin acting strangely, the youngest has an imaginary friend who lives in the closet. He also suffers from catatonic trances and has weird bruising. When all of the children start acting out in school and at home, it’s a literal shit show. Even with all of the foul odors and buzzing insects, and domestic violence, Ebony decides it’s the perfect time to throw a house party. Say what? Did Father Merrin throw a jammy jam in the middle of The Exorcist? No sir, he did not.
Solid performances by Oscar-nominated King Richard and Origin star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as neighborhood exorcist Reverend Bernice, and Precious star Mo’Nique as a skeptical social worker add a bit of heft to the silliness. But it’s the silliness that reigns supreme in The Deliverance. Day delivers a hot mess of a performance that makes the most out of what she’s been given, but you can’t help but laugh when Ebony goes off the rails attacking the bullying neighbor kids and talking shit to everyone who tries to help.
The Deliverance is loosely based on the “true” story of the 2011 Ammons haunting case, one of the more ludicrous demon possession stories. In that, at least this film is faithful because it’s also impossible to believe in any way. The most honest question that Daniels considers is whether it’s more likely the evil is caused by a supernatural entity or from traumatized children acting out against an abusive, unfit parent. Don’t worry; The Deliverance doesn’t stay serious long enough to ponder anything so weighty.
Netflix is exclusively streaming The Deliverance now.
