The Deliverance (2024) Movie || Andra Day, Glenn Close, Anthony B. Jenkins || Review and Facts

e [Music] e e e e e e e e e e friends if you want to watch super hit movie The Deliverance in English then you must like this video if you are visiting our channel for the first time don't forget to subscribe to our Channel friends in today's video the movie we are going to talk about is called the deliverance we will talk about what this movie is and where you can watch it all the interesting facts about this movie in today's video I am going to tell you I am also going to give you all the information on which at platform or on which satellite channel you will get to watch this movie also we will talk in detail about the technical department music department pre-production filming post-production budget box office collection of this film we will also talk about the story of this film and I will also give you a small review of the story of this film apart from this we will discuss about the facts of this film storyline starcast actor's performance in the film and which character has played which role that's why I request you friends to watch this video till the end so let's start the video the Deliverance is a 2024 American supernatural horror Thriller film directed by Lee Daniels and written by David kogasa and Elijah bham inspired by The ammon's Haunting case it stars Andra day with Rob Morgan Caleb mcclaflin anenu Ellis Taylor Tasha Smith Omar EPS Monique and Glenn Close the film was released in Select theaters on August 16th 2024 and will stream on Netflix on August 30th cast Andre day as ebony an alcoholic mother of a Pennsylvania family whose children reportedly became demonically possessed Glenn Close as Alberta Ebony's religious mother Anthony B Jenkins as Andre Ebony's youngest son Caleb mcclaflin as Nate Ebony's eldest son Demi Singleton as shant Ebony's daughter anenu Ellis Taylor as Reverend bernus James manique as Cynthia Henry a social worker Omar EPS as Melvin Miss Lawrence as Asia Colleen Camp as Dr Hofer Juanita Jennings as Mrs Tucker Kimberly Russell as Mrs Ross Tasha Smith as Pastor Powell production in January 2022 it was reported that Lee Daniels would direct and Andre day Octavia Spencer Glenn Clos Rob Morgan Caleb mcclaflin and anjenu Ellis Taylor would star in the film in April 2022 manique who last worked with Daniels in the 29 film precious replaced octavus Spencer in the role also that month Tas Smith was cast Omar EPS Demi Singleton Miss Lawrence and Anthony B Jenkins round out the cast the film was shot in mid 2022 in Pittsburgh release in January 2022 Netflix won a bidding war over the film rights in a deal of upward of $65 million covering the film's budget and buyouts it was released in Select theaters on August 16th 2024 and will stream on Netflix on August 30th reception on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes 50% of 16 critics reviews are positive with an average rating of 5 510 the Deliverance movie review as a filmmaker Lee Daniels tends to get slagged off on for being flamboyantly garish and over-the-top some of that is deserved but the truth is that when he's cooking on all cylinders Daniels is a gifted filmmaker the Deliverance is the sixth feature he has directed and I've been a fan of three of them precious 2009 his extraordinary tale of a stunted inner city teenagers escape from her domestic hell the paper boy 2012 a bold and unnerving Southern Gothic Noir and the United States versus Billy Holiday 2021 a musical political biopic that while flawed did a superb job of channeling its subjects complicated ferocity so when I say that the Deliverance a demonic possession movie that Daniels made for Netflix is one of his kitchy extreme schlock extravaganzas I'm not saying that he's always like that but sometimes he is and the Deliverance is not without its socially provocative Daniel's undercurrents the film is set in Pittsburgh in 2011 and it's about a family that moves into a house that immediately shows signs of being haunted memo to film makers never use flies buzzing around a room to establish the presence of dark Forces it was overly corny and telegraphed in the Amityville Horror in 1979 and it's an even horer device now in the Deliverance almost everything to do with the supernatural that is the devil is something you've seen way too many times before and is therefore a lot less scary than it ought to be the watchable part of the movie is its portrayal of the family which is very Le Daniels Andre day so potent as Billy Holiday plays Ebony a single mother struggling to raise three kids teenage shant Demi Singleton and Nate Caleb mcclaflin and young dree Anthony B Jenkins without much money and with nerves that frayed long ago she's separated from her husband who is doing a tour of Duty in Iraq usually the heroine of a horror film is a besieged innocent but before the Deliverance gets to The Possession parted focuses on the demons in Ebony her willingness to hit her kids and her tendency to lash out in a way that's nasty and full of Rage at everyone around her even the devil standing at the top of the basement stairs where those flies are buzzing around she shouts if somebody's down there I'll you up ebony whose temper has gotten her jail time struggles with alcohol but seems these days more sober than not yet even when she isn't drinking we see her smack Dre in the mouth at the dinner table because he spoke up about wanting milk accusing her of being too cheap to buy it she says that he's lactose intolerant but she's never been to a doctor about it is Ebony the film's equivalent of Mary the monster mother played by manique in Precious far from it yet there's an overlap she's a mother who's been corsen at times into meanness she's also quite protective unleashing her helian wrath on a teen bully down the block what Daniels wants us to see is that ebony is a conduit for forces of Oppression economic and racial that have dogged her life and turned it into a daily pressure cooker the movie makes no excuses for her but it does show us that her demons overlap with societies and day with a face of expressive misery and the energy of an imploding firecracker portrays her as a shrewd Fusion of herodan and victim Monique is actually on hand here she plays plays the DCS officer who oversees ebony like a prim detective looking for any sign that she's messing up and should therefore have her kids taken away for all of days searing anger the showboat performance in the Deliverance is the one given by Glenn Close as berda Ebony's white mother who has come to live with them berda is a reformed junkie who found Jesus and is now going through chemo which has left her head with nothing but scraggly wisps on top but she wears wigs of showy blonde curls and goes out in revealing tops flirting like mad berda is at war with her daughter but she also you know cares and it's fun to see Glenn Close cut loose in what is actually a rather well-thought-out performance even if the character makes her mama in hillbilly elegy look understated the kids start doing weird things Dre bangs on the basement door and then stands there like a zombie at school all re-engage in a bizarre acting out that involves bodily fluids is this a projection of their suffering from domestic abuse or are they being taken over by Spirits yes and yes and that's supposed to be the film's Intrigue but once the devil actually takes over and an exorcist excuse me I meant an apostle played by anenu Ellis Taylor from origin shows up all in order to perform an exorcism excuse me I meant a Deliverance which turns out to be the exact same thing Daniels reaches into the bag of levitating skin modeling cracking spider limb tricks that have been propelling this genre for decades The Twist is that ebony ends up squaring off against herself literally facing down her own demons but it turns out those demons were only halfway interesting when they were real single parent Ebony Jackson moves her family to a new home for a fresh start but something evil already lives there supposedly inspired by a true story more specifically the life of Latoya Ammons and set during the early 201 10s Lee Daniels with an overheated screenplay from David kogasa and Elijah bam the Deliverance comes across as a contemporary turn off the screw by way of copious amounts of cliched black trauma this is to the point where once the film is over and the credits try to convince viewers once again that this is all grounded in some semblance of reality one has likely already forgotten about that detail and will probably just cackle I certainly did especially after that outrageous finale it also doesn't sit right that in addition to once again treating characters with cruelty rather than genuinely exploring the human element of their circumstances and dilemmas Lee Daniels seems to perceive this concept as a means to push a twisted version of faith-based propaganda lo and behold a director's statement confirms I'm here to scare you you into finding your faith if there is a God in this world this film will finally scare movie aor away from Lee Daniels perhaps that sounds harsh but this is made all the more frustrating since there is an intriguing concept at the core here at least before Lee Daniels instantly cranks it up to goofy levels of domestic turmoil and family bickering laced with abuse for good measure not to mention a pointlessly tasteless third act reveal that one of these characters is a surviv of seemingly repeated sexual assault a financially struggling workingclass mom ebony Andra day A Gifted singer and actress who could nonetheless always be counted on to elicit some real emotion working alongside Lee Daniels reunited following their collaboration on the United States versus Billy Holiday looks after her three children and cancer recovering mother Alberta Glenn Close behind on bills and challenged with putting the kids through school she also regularly gets into nasty verbal quarrels with Alberta who is concerned with dressing sexy and her dating life yes you read that correctly with generational physical abuse a Hot Topic her husband is away fighting a war meanwhile Andre the youngest child played by Anthony B Jenkins is targeted by an imaginary friend while undergoing some of the usual horror tropes such as blacking out and strange behavior that doesn't align with his typical personality over time whatever entity is living in this house the family has been here for around 3 years now starts slowly possessing others and cranking up the aggression within them ebony also has a rough past related to drinking and drugs with child services a woman played by manique which feels like a sick joke giving her that role after having won an Oscar for portraying a repulsive mother in Lee Daniel's precious visiting often child abuse also seems to run in the family as early on in the film during dinner the usual squabbling is taken a notch too far with ebony smacking Andre across the face and drawing some blood on his lip the question then becomes especially since the opening credits and ominous music courtesy of Lucas vidle bluntly Express that this is a horror movie how much of this abusive behavior is the result of demonic possession and how much is coming from within the flaws of these characters as people a stronger director and film would understand this none of these fractured relationships amounts to much however there is an intriguing sequence that sees Alberta side with a white Doctor Who claims everything is psychologically okay with the children this scene also comes after a montage of inappropriate behavior at school in which the youngest child flings his feces at his teacher so realistically it's hard for anyone to buy into a damn thing that doctor says the point is that this lead leads to a race relations argument between mother and daughter an interesting Dynamic that is quickly forgotten to get to more cheap scares eventually an apostle anenu Ellis Taylor also giving a serviceable performance without embarrassing herself comes into play transforming the Deliverance into an overtly black Take On The Exorcist which also doesn't work aside from one or two disturbingly bloody visuals because Lee Daniels treats the material like he is doing scary movie if you thought Glen Close had some hilarious line readings in the biopic about that couch JD Vance just wait until you see her in demonic possession mode while also failing at telling a story about family and shamelessly pushing the importance of religion other information about this film Lee Daniel's Netflix haunted house Thriller the Deliverance opens by solemnly promising that it's inspired by true events it's a cliched start to some cliched horror but you'll be rewarded for looking further as it turns out those alleged events are just an excuse to explore quieter and more compelling truths this is thanks in large part to a tour to force turn from Andre day as exhausted single mother ebony she and her three children Anthony B Jenkins Caleb mclin Demi Singleton have just moved to a new home and what with the Flies buzzing around the basement and the kids's newly weird Behavior it's pretty clear something is off we've all seen enough movies to know where this is headed but it takes ebony a while to figure it out and you can't blame her she may be dealing with an ancient demon breaking out of hell but she's already got her hands more than full in this realm her life is built on contradictions and the balance has tilted way out of control her husband has left and is both challenging her for custody and leaving her to handle everything her born again mother Glenn Close has moved in to help but their relationship is shadowed by a dark past ebony works hard all day and still can't pay her bills she loves her kids as fiercely as anyone could but sometimes she hurts them too the scariest threat of all at least from a non-paranormal perspective may be Cynthia manique a non-nonsense social worker she's looking for reasons to remove the kids from this unstable family and Ebony can't help giving her some Daniels hasn't always been able to find a steady equilibrium between melodrama and drama but his cast is compelling enough to ground even the most outlandish moments and there are plenty in the script written by David Kesha and Elijah bam day the United States versus Billy Holiday is so good at blending Ebony's self-hatred and mother love that she keeps us on her side no matter what's happening and The Supporting Cast is equally strong manique layers the stern Cynthia with unexpected empathy while anenu Ellis Taylor King Richard somehow makes an exorcist or Apostle as she calls herself steady and believable the kids are all solid and sympathetic and close manages to stay just on the right side of her chaotic character as it happens close has eight Oscar nominations day and Ellis Taylor have one each and Monique one for Daniels precious so it is occasionally disc concerting to see such accomplished actors drawn into literally head spinning be movie mck and frankly the horror elements too often seem like a distraction anyway Daniels brings nothing new to the genre and the big exorcism all floating bodies fiery religious iconography and distorted vocal effects is a disappointing D Numa to the story's very real and relatable issues in a way though that final letdown speaks to the strength of the rest of the movie Ebony's life is already a nightmare in which she's long been fighting against demons even greater than the one hiding in the basement and her kids may be possessed but they're also acting out as any hurt and Confused children in their situation might so ultimately Daniels has made a touching and forceful film about three generations attempting to overcome familial and societal trauma it's only the devil who underd delivers Lee Daniel's first ever horror effort the Deliverance is not to be confused with 1972's Deliverance although much like John borman's three-time Oscar nominee about idiot canor Going Through Hell in rural Georgia it does make movie watching pretty painful not since hillbilly elegy has Netflix done Glenn Close so dirty that's true even taking into account her small part in the hugely horrible Heart of Stone for the streamer last year the Deliverance director Daniels and an ambitious Storyteller with an admirably spotty track record is best known for creating the TV show Empire with Danny strong strong and before that helming the sundance's darling precious which yes is based on the novel Push by Sapphire thank you so much for remembering back in 2009 Daniel's talents as a producer on 2001's Monsters ball preceded the success of his eventual best picture Contender precious but the Bleak family draw about a black family living in Harlem is what turned him into a celebrated director his gritty portrait of a relentlessly abused 16-year-old Gaby Sid was dark violent and hard to take Daniel's approach to creating cinematic realism had its detractors but bold Visions make great directors those talents are still very much alive in Daniels who has earned the right as a filmmaker to recruit singular acting Titans like close anenu Ellis Taylor and Monique from precious into a movie as ill advised as the Deliverance it's an exceptionally tough year to be trying your hand in horror exorcism markets but Daniel's idea to crack open his own legacy and morph a harrowing drama about a struggling family into an extreme genre effort could have worked sadly the smart restraint he once showed with precious always knowing just when to pull back is replaced here with a scattershot execution that has more half scary ideas than it can manage living with her bombastic cancer patient mother Alberta close the tough as Nails eony audre day is a recovering alcoholic and parent to three children teenager Nate Caleb mcclaflin middle child shant Demi Singleton and the youngest Andre Anthony B Jenkins things are tense in the house way before anything possession likee is suggested for one thing the kid's Dad was deployed to Iraq months ago the bill are piling up and Ebony has no idea when he'll be back even worse Alberta says the catfish has too much garlic oh Alberta the mouthy matriarch has a way of getting under Ebony's skin and that tension boils over into a few reasonably well-written fights which frequently sent her race Daniel's willingness to once again explore even the thorniest Dynamics of the black experience is commendable almost 15 years since Precious however it's worth noting that close's casting is a bit of a heads scratcher as the true story about an Indiana woman's haunting that Daniels is supposedly telling her name is Latoya Ammons look it up featured no real life counterpart to the doomed scene stealer Lee Daniel's first ever horror effort the Deliverance is not to be confused with 1972's Deliverance although much like John borman's three-time Oscar nominee about idiot canoers Going Through Hell In rural Georgia it does make movie watching pretty painful not since hillbilly elegy has Netflix done Glenn Close so dirty that's true even taking into account her small part in the hugely horrible Heart of Stone for the streamer last year the Deliverance director Daniels an ambitious Storyteller with an admirably spotty track record is best known for creating the TV show Empire with Danny Strong and before that helming the Sundance darling precious which yes is based on the novel Push by Sapphire thank you so much for remembering the Criterion collections November 2024 releases include Paper Moon the shape of water and a 4K restoration of Seven Samurai back in 2009 Daniel's talents as a producer on 2001's Monsters ball preceded the success of his eventual best picture Contender precious but the Bleak family drama about a black family living in Harlem is what turned him into a celebrated director his gritty portrait of a relentlessly abused 16-year-old gabri Sid was dark violent and hard to take Daniel's approach to creating cinematic realism had its detractors but bold Visions make great directors those talents are still very much alive in Daniels who has earned the right as a filmmaker to recruit singular acting Titans like close anenu Ellis Taylor and Monique from precious into a movie as ill advised as the Deliverance it's an exceptionally tough year to be trying your hand in horror exorcism markets but Daniel's idea to crack open his own legacy and morph a harrowing drama about a struggling family into an extreme genre effort could have worked sadly the smart restraint he once showed with precious always knowing just when to pull back is replaced here with a scattershot execution that has more half scary ideas than it can manage living with her bombastic cancer patient mother Alberta close the tough as Nails ebony Andre day is a recovering alcoholic and parent to three children teenager Nate Caleb mcclaflin middle child shant Demi Singleton and the youngest Andre Anthony B Jenkins things are tense in the house way before anything possession likee is suggested for one thing the kid's Dad was deployed to Iraq months ago the bills are piling up and Ebony has no idea when he'll be back even worse Alberta says the catfish has too much garlic oh Alberta the mouthy matriarch has a way of getting under Ebony's skin and that tension boils over into a few reasonably well-written fights which frequently Center race Daniel's willingness to once again explore even the thorniest Dynamics of the black experience is commendable almost 15 years since Precious however it's worth noting that close's casting is a bit of a heads scratcher as the true story about an Indiana woman's haunting that Daniels is supposedly telling her name is Latoya Ammons look it up featured no real life counterpart to the doomed scene stealer flies start trickling out of the basement in one of the first scenes and the sleep walking Andre makes a memorably menacing display of chugging milk straight from the carton social worker Cynthia manique adds to the chaos with frequent unannounced visits as the threat of Ebony's children being taken away from her Looms in the ever shortening distance the languishing mom swears she isn't drinking and something is wrong in her house of course No One Believes her when the kids start showing up with bruises after all ebony does hit them the audience can see that much even with plenty of winks and nods coated into Alberta's suspicious Devotion to the church it takes more than 40 minutes for the Deliverance to decide it wants to be Supernatural that might be something of a semi- spoiler but considering how much of Ebony's almost 2-hour Journey interplays directly with obvious Clues pointing to the devil it's hard to ignore and review had Daniels explored all the underpinnings of a horror outing as a dramatic allegory for addiction as the film's opening quote I need forgiveness for my sins but I also need deliverance from the power of sin suggests he might the director could have fared better than going all the way to ghosts or is it demons Reverend bernus Ellis Taylor attempts to carry the film over that spiritual hump alas not even the legendary actress who is just one Tony short of an OT can keep the deliverance from falling into a melodrama akin to Daniel's earlier the paper boy as far as final girls are concerned ebony has plenty of good moments screaming doctor my son ate his own today is not one of things for the family go from bad to worse remarkably fast and what happens to the 77-year-old close in the finale is deeply unfortunate don't misread that as me suggesting that something particularly grotesque or interesting happens just understand that what Daniels does to the Fatal Attraction icon both visually and through the words this quietly unhinged script makes her say is so gross and so so goofy stranger things actor mlin get gets props for at least selling his part as a promising teenager who with or without his agent needs to pack his and get out of there the Deliverance certainly has its poignant scenes sitting with her youngest son pre genre turn ebony Ponders the cycle of abuse and wonders aloud I don't know how such a good person came out of somebody like me it's equally marvelous that a movie this misguided could come from a filmmaker as skilled as Daniels tying a million ideas together into a rope just long enough to hang itself Netflix's regrettable attempt at subverting expectations results in a throwaway effort that wastes its big names in the end it's more rough than precious a storied success that at least in the critical sense still haunts Daniels to this day more details Lee Daniel's tradition of telling vulnerable black stories continues with his first directorial horror project the Deliverance writers David kogasa and Elijah bam Channel exorcism titles from David Gordon greens The Exorcist believer to James WS The Conjuring maybe too literally Pittsburgh semi- Suburban outskirts establish surroundings like Cabrini Greens in Bernard Rose's camman although all these comparisons pack more terrifying genre ferocity Daniels lays household drama thick as possession hauntings leak into frame without urgency which works to establish Stakes yet RI heavily on third act payoffs that might not favor a sensational horror debut but enough works as a haunting fight for survival against Monsters and Prejudice proving Daniel's versatility behind the camera the Deliverance is Loosely based on Latoya ammon's reported paranormal Encounters in Gary Indiana Latoya her mother and three children moved into the infamous demon house which celebrity ghost hunter Zack baggin purchased for his 2014 movie demon house and that's where Daniel starts ebony andree her cancer stricken white mother Alberta Glen Close and three children move into a Pittsburgh home with immediate freak occurrences pesky flies follow a stench in the basement like L toyer Recs Ebony's youngest Andre Anthony B Jenkins starts talking to an imaginary friend The Vibes as we say are off from the start but will Ebony's social worker Cynthia Henry manique believe a solo mother herself abused by Alberta when Sons and Daughters say they woke up with unknown bruises much of the film's first half is a character study focusing on ebony day plays a poverty-stricken matriarch on the brink captured by the camera's scrutinizing perspective Ebony's taste for alcohol causes her to be erratic and we see her physically hit eldest son Nate Caleb mcclaflin when he verbally lashes out but Daniels also shows ebony who's paying Healthcare bills or pulling double parent duties the Deliverance questions whether broken Souls stay broken or if hereditary curses can be overcome supernaturally and through shared Humanity it's a defensive story about ebony fighting for her children and those who want to steal them away whether that be the states ruling nurses with judging eyes or Satan himself Daniels employs a through line in the Deliverance that touches on similar ideas expressed in films like get out the blackening and bad hair Ebony's fears are Universal yet day's thorny performance comes with strikes against her skin color an unrecognizable close portrays Ebony's white mother who's found God and flirtatiously seduces her chemo theapy nurse Omar EPS often demonstrating the power her pigmentation holds as she waves a baseball bat or avoids punishment for her actions Daniels chooses an imperfect protagonist and asks if the trials she faced are enough to forgive her slip ups and that question breeds Intrigue as the film progresses DA's expressions are grimaces temperamental and aggressive yet her dedication is unmatched when it comes to ebony protecting her loved ones viewed as a strike to onlookers she's a dented anchor for a film filled with satanic mischief and vile trickery influenced by concerned parties studying her every move when horror imagery thickens and shadowy figures make themselves known the Deliverance plays predictable hits ebony falls for the demon traps more than once implicating herself to Alberta or others who find her words untrustworthy Ebony's children succumb to irregular behaviors which are surprisingly offputting but also hard to rationalize as outbursts when the film tries to stir doubt in the authenticity of their possessions don't forget the Prototype introduction of a faith-based champion who performs whatever ritual will cleanse vessels of damnation which ebony oddly fights at first despite acknowledging something obscure happening to her family Daniels focuses so intently on the bloodline drama between everyone under Ebony's roof that it's easy to notice how the genre influences are straight out of the exorcism movie 101 playet there is admittedly a healthy dose of Blasphemous symbolism that visually makes its impact from levitations to Stigmata Ebony's offspring are tormented Ed by the malevolence holding their Spirits captive what's less impressive are the digital augmentations to little Andre's face that turn him dionic or the computer generated effects that achieve wall crawling unease the Deliverance is a grab bag of possession Staples tossed into the air at once and they all come crashing down in the conclusion Ebony's contortions stick their Landing along with other hellish glimpses while other parts are more aesthetic than functional it's never an out right fumble of the finale's payoffs more a chaotic Montage of rotten tooth devils and bleeding wounds banged into place with a wooden cross despite its tonal puzzle and everything at once climax the Deliverance captivates as an American bread slice of Outsider storytelling for a while you'll question if Daniel's brand of Terror even requires an underworld Misfits appearance ebony faces the same skepticism surrounding ammon's unbelievable accounts then Daniels punches horror elements into full gear and while there's a randomizer sense to everything frights abound and there's a mercilessness that bites down hard execution May slip and slide but Daniels doesn't waste his first crack at the ghoulishness of this Earth or deep below if there's one thing director Lee Daniels is going to do it's Wrangle up an impressive cast list and it's no wonder that stars flock to him he's LED several performers to Oscar nomin ations including a win for Monique's acclaimed turn in Precious not to mention how close Nicole Kidman and Oprah Winfrey came to nominations for their work in Daniel's films the paper boy and the butler respectively his latest film The Deliverance produced for Netflix features performances from such lauded actresses as Andre day Glenn Close and anenu Ellis Taylor not to mention a long awaited reunion with manique it's the type of Ensemble that would lead to one assuming that the material must be Stellar to attract such Marquee names however the cast is merely a trojan horse fooling viewers into watching a schlocky unoriginal thriller just because it features the leading actress from Dangerous Liaisons doesn't mean it's any different or better than the Litany of tiresome horror movies that tumble onto streaming services on a weekly basis day plays Ebony a mother trying to raise her children while dealing with alcohol dependency single-handedly a cancer stricken mother close and oh yeah a demon infested home what begins as a series of what appear to be behavioral issues affecting her children quickly progresses to something far more Sinister and Supernatural once all three of her children exhibit Disturbing Behavior at school she seeks out alternative methods to help her family while they're all undeniably talented it can't be said that any member of the esteemed cast is turning in career best work in this film day Taps into her levels of raw vulnerability and unpretentious emotionality that she used so effectively in Daniels the United States versus Billy holiday but ebony is a character with far less Dimension than the legendary jazz singer and although day's naturally compelling screen presence makes her a worthy central figure for the film there's just not enough meat on the screenplays proverbial bone for her to work with day tosses herself without abandon into the role as is necessary when working with a director as unsettle as Daniel's but through no fault of her own ebony never comes across as anything deeper or more complex than vaguely troubled there's an obvious Camp quality to Casting Glenn Close in a role like this which will almost certainly draw in a particular actress obsessed band of viewers her makeup is wild her wigs are plentiful and her vocal choices are fascinating so why isn't watching her in this film more enjoyable even in an oddly gleeful way it's never quite clear if we're supposed to look at her character as a voice of reason in Ebony's unsteady life or as a distraction from the things that ebony needs to focus on close is reduced to playing the same two modes over and over again brazenly sexual or shockingly unconcerned with social pretense one scene where she attacks a car with a baseball bat while completely baldheaded feels destined for immortality as a Twi reaction video later in the film close gets a chance to delve into some genuinely deranged horror Antics here she finally achieves a level of perverse watchability thanks to her commitment to the truly ridiculous lines of dialogue she has to spit out but likely this impression isn't what the filmmaker intended for these moments the two best performances in the film come from the supporting performances of Monique and Ellis Taylor Monique's work in Daniel's precious is one of the greatest film performances of this century and this creative reunion 15 years later shows just how well the director and actress work together she's tasked with playing the problem character a Child Services representative whose entire function is to make life harder for Ebony however Monique brings a level of sympathy to the character that isn't immediately obvious in the screenplay every time she enters it's hard not to tense up but her skill as an actor means that she never feels as if she's overstaying her welcome Ellis Taylor is the highlight of the film The Gifted performer is always a magnetic presence even while not speaking she's the key to most of the events of the film's second half and her natural Authority helps the audience to understand why ebony would suddenly Place her complete trust in this stranger still despite the hard work that this quartet of actresses puts in the film's structural elements are simply not supportive of their efforts the screenplay is repetitive and often times laughable the same types of demonic activity keep presenting themselves to the family over and over and none of them are realized in a dynamic or original way Daniels is far from a master of horror and the images he conjures up will feel reductive to anyone who's even half watched any of the many films with the word Exorcist in the title and the fact that the film is based on supposed true events makes the many times that evidence of Supernatural violence inflicted upon the children is understandably mistaken for domestic violence challenging to reconcile these questionable plot decisions get even further muddied by the film's ultimate faith-based message which serves to excuse a lot of The Strife that came before in a frustratingly convenient and simplistic manner the Deliverance has all the veneer of a Prestige drama still the compounding misery on display combined with the uncomfortable non-fiction nature of the story ultimately leads to the film feeling merely exploitative and at times hard to watch Daniel's affection for maximalism doesn't lead to an overwhelmingly emotional experience instead the whole thing just feels messy that may sound appealing to some but much like the possessed house its characters inhabit viewers who enter the Deliverance should beware the Deliverance is a 2024 American supernatural horror Thriller film directed by Lee Daniels and written by David keshaw and Elijah bham inspired by The ammon's Haunting case it stars Andre day with Rob Morgan Caleb mcclaflin anenu Ellis Taylor Tasha Smith Omar EPS Monique and Glenn Clos the film was released in Select theaters on August 16th 2024 and will stream on Netflix on August 30th cast Andre day as ebony an alcoholic mother of a Pennsylvania family whose children purportedly became demonically possessed Glenn Close as Alberta Ebony's religious mother Anthony B Jenkins as Andre Ebony's youngest son Caleb mcclaflin as Nate Ebony's eldest son Demi Singleton as shant Ebony's daughter anjenu Ellis Taylor as Reverend bernus James manique as Cynthia Henry a social worker Omar EPS as Melvin Miss Lawrence as Asia colen Camp as Dr Hofer Juanita Jennings as Mrs Tucker Kimberly Russell as Mrs Ross Tasha Smith as Pastor Powell production in January 2022 it was reported that Lee Daniels would direct an Andre day Octavia Spencer Glenn Close Rob Morgan Caleb mcclaflin and anjenu Ellis Taylor would star in the film in April 2022 manique who last worked with Daniels in the 29 film precious replaced octavus Spencer in the role also that month Tasha Smith was cast Omar EPS Demi Singleton Miss Lawrence and Anthony B Jenkins round out the cast the film was shot in mid 2022 in Pittsburgh release in January 2022 Netflix won a bidding war over the film rights in a deal of upward of $65 million covering the film's budget and buyouts it was released in Select theaters on August 16th 2024 and will stream on Netflix on August 30th reception on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes 50% of 16 critics reviews are positive with an average rating of five 510 the Deliverance movie review as a filmmaker Lee Daniels tends to get slagged off on for being flamboyantly garish and over the-top some of that is deserved but the truth is that when he's cooking on all cylinders Daniels is a gifted filmmaker the Deliverance is the sixth feature he has directed and I've been a fan of three of them precious 2009 his extraordinary tale of a stunted inner city teenagers escaped from her domestic hell the paper boy 2012 a bold and unnerving Southern Gothic Noir and the United States versus Billy Holiday 2021 a musical political biopic that while flawed did a superb job of channeling its subject's complicated ferocity so when I say that the Deliverance a demonic possession movie that Daniels made for Netflix is one of his kitchy extreme schlock extravaganzas I'm not saying that he's always like that but sometimes he is and the Deliverance is not without its socially provocative Daniel's under occurrence the film is set in Pittsburgh in 2011 and it's about a family that moves into a house that immediately shows signs of being haunted memo to filmmakers never use flies buzzing around a room to establish the presence of dark Forces it was overly corny and telegraphed in the Amityville Horror in 1979 and it's an even horer device now in the Deliverance almost everything to do with the supernatural that is the devil is something you've seen way too many times before and is therefore a lot less scary than it ought to be the watchable part of the movie is its portrayal of the family which is very Lee Daniels Andre day so potent as Billy Holiday plays Ebony a single mother struggling to raise three kids teenage shant Demi Singleton and Nate Caleb mcclaflin and young dree Anthony be Jenkins without much money and with nerves that frayed long ago she's separated from her husband who is doing a tour of Duty in Iraq usually the heroine of a horror film is a besieged innocent but before the Deliverance gets to The Possession parted focuses on the demons in Ebony her willingness to hit her kids and her tendency to lash out in a way that's nasty and full of Rage at everyone around her even the devil standing at the top of the basement stairs where those flies are buzzing around she shouts if somebody's down there I'll you up ebony whose temper has gotten her jail time struggles with alcohol but seems these days more sober than not yet even when she isn't drinking we see her smack Dre in the mouth at the dinner table because he spoke up about wanting milk accusing her of being too cheap to buy it she says that he's lactose intolerant but she's never been to a doctor about it is Ebony the film's equivalent of Mary the monster mother played by manique in Precious far from it yet there's an overlap she's a mother who's been coarsen at times into meanness she's also quite protective unleashing her helian wrath on a teen bully down the block what Daniels wants us to see is that ebony is a conduit for forces of Oppression economic and racial that have dogged her life and turned it into a daily pressure cooker the movie makes no excuses for her but it does show us that her demons overlap with societies and day with a faith of expressive misery and the energy of an imploding firecracker portrays her as a shrewd Fusion of herodan and victim Monique is actually on hand here she plays the DCS officer who oversees ebony like a prim detective looking for any sign that she's messing up and should therefore have her kids taken away for all of days searing anger the showboat performance in the Deliverance is the one given by Glenn Close as berda Ebony's white mother who has come to live with them berda is a reformed junkie who found Jesus and is now going through chemo which has left her head with nothing but scraggly wisps on top but she wears wigs of showy blonde curls and goes out in revealing tops flirting like mad berda is at war with her daughter but she also you know cares and it's fun to see Glenn Close cut loose in what is actually a rather well-thought-out performance even if the character makes her mama in hillbilly elegy look understated the kids start doing weird things Dre bangs on the basement door and then stands there like a zombie at school all three engage in a bizarre acting out that involves bodily fluids is this a projection of their suffering from domestic abuse or are they being taken over by Spirit yes and yes and that's supposed to be the film's Intrigue but once the devil actually takes over and an exorcist excuse me I meant an apostle played by anenu Ellis Taylor from origin shows up all in order to perform an exorcism excuse me I meant a Deliverance which turns out to be the exact same thing Daniels reaches into the bag of levitating skin modeling cracking spider limb tricks that have been propelling this genre for decades The Twist is that ebony ends up squaring off against herself literally facing down her own demons but it turns out those demons were only halfway interesting when they were real single parent Ebony Jackson moves her family to a new home for a fresh start but something evil already lives there supposedly inspired by a true story more specifically the life of Latoya Ammons and set during the early 2010s Lee Daniels with an overheated screenplay from David kogasa and Elijah bam the Deliverance comes across as a contemporary turn off the screw by way of copious amounts of cliched black trauma this is to the point where once the film is over and the credits try to convince viewers once again that this is all grounded in some semblance of reality one has likely already forgotten about that detail and will probably just cackle I certainly did especially after that outrageous finale it also doesn't sit right that in addition to once again treating characters with cruelty rather than genuinely exploring the human element of their circumstances and dilemmas Lee Daniels seems to perceive this concept as a means to push a twisted version of faith-based propaganda lo and behold a director statement confirms I'm here to scare you into finding your faith if there is a God in this world this film will finally scare movie aor away from Lee Daniels perhaps that sounds harsh but this is made all the more frustrating since there is an intriguing concept at the core here at least before Lee Daniels instantly cranks it up to goofy level of domestic turmoil and family bickering laced with abuse for good measure not to mention a pointlessly tasteless third act reveal that one of these characters is a survivor of seemingly repeated sexual assault a financially struggling working class mom ebony Andra day A Gifted singer and actress who could nonetheless always be counted on to elicit some real emotion working alongside Lee Daniels reunited following their collaboration on the United States versus Billy h holiday looks after her three children and cancer recovering mother Alberta Glenn Close behind on bills and challenged with putting the kids through school she also regularly gets into nasty verbal quarrels with Alberta who is concerned with dressing sexy and her dating life yes you read that correctly with generational physical abuse a Hot Topic her husband is away fighting a war meanwhile Andre the youngest child played by Anthony B Jenkins is targeted by an imaginary friend while undergoing some of the usual horror tropes such as blacking out and strange behavior that doesn't align with his typical personality over time whatever entity is living in this house the family has been here for around 3 years now starts slowly possessing others and cranking up the aggression within them ebony also has a rough past related to drinking and drugs with child services a woman played by manique which feels like a sick joke giving her that role after having won an Oscar for portraying a repulsive mother in Lee Daniel's precious visiting offen child abuse also seems to run in the family as early on in the film during dinner the usual squabbling is taken a notch too far with ebony smacking Andre across the face and drawing some blood on his lip the question then becomes especially since the opening credits and ominous music courtesy of Lucas vidle bluntly Express that this is a horror movie how much of this abusive behavior is the result of demonic possession and how much is coming from within the flaws of these characters as people a stronger director and film would understand this none of these fractured relationships amounts to much however there is an intriguing sequence that sees Alberta aside with a white Doctor Who claims everything is psychologically okay with the children this scene also comes after a montage of inappropriate behavior at school in in which the youngest child flings his feces at his teacher so realistically it's hard for anyone to buy into a damn thing that doctor says the point is that this leads to a race relations argument between mother and daughter an interesting Dynamic that is quickly forgotten to get to more cheap scares eventually an apostle anenu Ellis Taylor also giving a serviceable performance without embarrassing herself comes into play transforming the Deliverance into an overtly black Take On The Exorcist which also doesn't work aside from one or two disturbingly bloody visuals because Lee Daniels treats the material like he is doing scary movie if you thought Glenn Close had some hilarious line readings in the biopic about that couch JD Vance just wait until you see her in demonic possession mode while also failing at telling a story about family and shamelessly pushing the importance of religion other information about this film Lee Daniel's Netflix haunted house Thriller the Deliverance opens by solemnly promising that it's inspired by true events it's a cliché start to some cliched horror but you'll be rewarded for looking further as it turns out those alleged events are just an excuse to explore quieter and more compelling truths this is thanks in large part to a tour to force turn from Andre day as exhausted single mother ebony she and her three children Anthony B Jenkins Caleb mclin Demi Singleton have just moved to a new home and what with the Flies buzzing around the basement and the kids newly weird Behavior it's pretty clear something is off we've all seen enough movies to know where this is headed but it takes ebony a while to figure it out and you can't blame her she may be dealing with an ancient demon breaking out of hell but she's already got her hands more than full in this realm her life is built on contradictions and and the balance has tilted way out of control her husband has left and is both challenging her for custody and leaving her to handle everything her Born Again mother Glenn Close has moved in to help but their relationship is shadowed by a dark past ebony works hard all day and still can't pay her bills she loves her kids as fiercely as anyone could but sometimes she hurts them too the scariest threat of all at least from a non-paranormal perspective I may be Cynthia manique a non-nonsense social worker she's looking for reasons to remove the kids from this unstable family and Ebony can't help giving her some Daniels hasn't always been able to find a steady equilibrium between melodrama and drama but his cast is compelling enough to ground even the most outlandish moments and there are plenty in the script written by David kaga and Elijah bham day the United States versus Billy Holiday is so good at blending Ebony's self-hatred and mother love that she keeps us on her side no matter what's happening and The Supporting Cast is equally strong manique layers the stern Cynthia with unexpected empathy while onu Ellis Taylor King Richard somehow makes an exorcist or Apostle as she calls herself steady and believable the kids are all solid and sympathetic and close manages to stay just on the right side of her chaotic character as it happens close has eight Oscar nominations day and Ellis Taylor have one each and Monique one for Daniels precious so it is occasionally disconcerting to see such accomplished actors drawn into literally head spinning be movie mck and frankly the horror elements too often seem like a distraction anyway Daniels brings nothing new to the genre and the big exorcism all floating bodies fiery religious iconography and distorted vocal effects is a disappointing day Numa to the story's very real and relatable issues in a way though that final letdown speaks to the strength of the rest of the movie Ebony's life is already a nightmare in which she's long been fighting against demons even greater than the one hiding in the basement and her kids may be possessed but they're also acting out as any hurt and Confused children in their situation might so ultimately Daniels has made a touching and forceful film about three generations attempting to overcome familial and societal trauma it's only the devil who underd delivers Lee Daniel's first ever horror effort the Deliverance is not to be confused with 1972's Deliverance although much like John borman's three-time Oscar nominee about idiot canor Going Through Hell in rural Georgia it does make movie watching pretty painful not since hillbilly elegy has Netflix done Glenn Close so dir dirty that's true even taking into account her small part in the hugely horrible Heart of Stone for the streamer last year the Deliverance director Daniels an ambitious Storyteller with an admirably spotty track record is best known for creating the TV show Empire with Danny Strong and before that helming the sundance's darling precious which yes is based on the novel Push by Sapphire thank you so much for remembering back in 2009 Daniel's talents as a producer on 2001's Monsters ball preceded the success of his eventual best picture Contender precious but the Bleak family drama about a black family living in Harlem is what turned him into a celebrated director his gritty portrait of a relentlessly abused 16-year-old Gaby Sid was dark violent and hard to take Daniel's approach to creating cinematic realism had its detractors but bold Visions make great directors those talents are still very much alive in Daniels who has earned the right as a filmmaker to recruit singular acting Titans like close anenu Ellis Taylor and Monique from precious into a movie as ill- advised as the Deliverance it's an exceptionally tough year to be trying your hand in horror exorcism markets but Daniel's idea to crack open his own legacy and morph a harrowing drama about a struggling family into an extreme genre effort could have worked sadly the smart restraint he once showed with precious always knowing just when to pull back is replaced here with a scattershot execution that has more half scary ideas than it can manage living with her bombastic cancer patient mother Alberta close the tough as Nails ebony Andre day is a recovering alcoholic and parent to three children teenager Nate Caleb mcclaflin middle child shant Demi Singleton and the youngest Andre Anthony be Jenkins things are tense in the house way before anything possession like is suggested for one thing the kid's Dad was deployed to Iraq months ago the bills are piling up and Ebony has no idea when he'll be back even worse Alberta says the catfish has too much garlic oh Alberta the mouthy matriarch has a way of getting under Ebony's skin and that tension boils over into a few reasonably well-written fights which frequently sent her race Daniel's willingness to once again explore even the thorniest Dynamics of the black experience is commendable almost 15 years since Precious however it's worth noting that close's casting is a bit of a head scratcher as the true story about an Indiana woman's haunting that Daniels is supposedly telling her name is Latoya Ammons look it up featured no real life counterpart to the doomed scene stealer Lee Daniel's first ever horror effort the Deliverance is not to be confused with 1972's Deliverance although much like John borman's three-time Oscar nominee about idiot canoers Going Through Hell in rural Georgia it does make movie watching pretty painful not since hillbilly elegy has Netflix done Glenn Close so dirty that's true even taking into account her small part in the hugely horrible Heart of Stone for the streamer last year the Deliverance director Daniels an ambitious Storyteller with an admirably spotty track record is best known for creating the TV show Empire with Danny Strong and before that helming the sundance's darling precious which yes is based on the novel Push by Sapphire thank you so much for remembering the Criterion collections November 2024 releases include Paper Moon the shape of water and a 4K restoration of Seven Samurai back in 2009 Daniel's Talent as a producer on 2001's Monsters ball preceded the success of his eventual best picture Contender precious but the Bleak family drama about a black family living in Harlem is what turned him into a celebrated director his gritty portrait of a relentlessly abused 16-year-old gabri Sid was dark violent and hard to take Daniel's approach to creating cinematic realism had its detractors but bold Visions make great directors those talents are still very much alive in Daniels who has earned the right as a filmmaker to recruit singular acting Titans like close anenu Ellis Taylor and Monique from precious into a movie as ill advised as the Deliverance it's an exceptionally tough year to be trying your hand in horror exorcism markets but Daniel's idea to crack open his own legacy and morph a harrowing drama about a struggling family into an extreme genre effort could have worked sadly the smart restraint he once showed with precious always knowing just when to pull back is replaced here with a scattershot execution that has more half scary ideas than it can manage living with her bombastic cancer patient mother Alberta close the tough as Nails ebony Audra day is a recovering alcoholic and parent to three children teenager Nate Caleb mcclaflin middle child shant Demi Singleton and the youngest Andre Anthony B Jenkins things are tense in the house way before anything possession likee is suggested for one thing the kid's Dad was deployed to aack months ago the bills are piling up and Ebony has no idea when he'll be back even worse Alberta says the catfish has too much garlic oh Alberta the mouthy matriarch has a way of getting under Ebony's skin and that tension boils over into a few reasonably well-written fights which frequently Center race Daniel 's willingness to once again explore even the thorniest Dynamics of the black experience is commendable almost 15 years since Precious however it's worth noting that closa casting is a bit of a heads scratcher as the true story about an Indiana woman's haunting that Daniels is supposedly telling her name is Latoya Ammons look it up featured no real life counterpart to the doomed scene stealer flies start trickling out of the basement in one of the first scenes and the sleep walking Andre makes a memorably menacing display of chugging milk straight from the carton social worker Cynthia manique adds to the chaos with frequent unannounced visits as the threat of Ebony's children being taken away from her Looms in the ever shortening distance the languishing mom swears she isn't drinking and something is wrong in her house of course No One Believes her when the kids start showing up with bruises after all ebony does hit them the audience can see that much even with plenty of winks and nods coded into Alberta's suspicious Devotion to the church it takes more than 40 minutes for the Deliverance to decide it wants to be Supernatural that might be something of a semi- spoiler but considering how much of Ebony's almost 2-hour Journey interplays directly with obvious Clues pointing to the devil it's hard to ignore and review had Daniels explored all the underpinnings of a horror outing as a dramatic allegory for addiction as the film's opening quote I need forgiveness for my sins but I also need deliverance from the power of sin suggests he might the director could have fared better than going all the way to ghosts or is it demons Reverend bernus Ellis Taylor attempts to carry the film over that spiritual hump alas not even the legendary actress who is just one Tony short of an egot can keep the deliverance from falling into a melodrama akin to Daniel's earlier the paper boy as far as final girls are concerned ebony has plenty of good moments screaming doctor my son ate his own today is not one of them things for the family go from bad to worse remarkably fast and what happens to the 77-year-old close in the finale is deeply unfortunate don't misread that as me suggesting that something particularly grotesque or interesting happens just understand that what Daniels does to the Fatal Attraction icon both visually and through the words this quietly unhinged script makes her say is so gross and so so goofy stranger things actor mlin gets props for at least selling his part as a promising teenager who with or without his agent needs to pack his and get out of there the Deliverance certainly has its poignant scenes sitting with her youngest son pre genre turn ebony P the cycle of abuse and wonders aloud I don't know how how such a good person came out of somebody like me it's equally marvelous that a movie this misguided could come from a filmmaker as skilled as Daniels tying a million ideas together into a rope just long enough to hang itself Netflix's regrettable attempt at subverting expectations results in a throwaway effort that wastes its big names in the end it's more rough than precious a storied success that at least in the critical sense still haunts Daniels to this day more details Lee Daniel's tradition of telling vulnerable black stories continues with his first directorial horror project the Deliverance writers David kogasa and Elijah bam Channel exorcism titles from David Gordon greens The Exorcist believer to James ju's The Conjuring maybe too literally Pittsburgh semi- Suburban outskirts establish surroundings like Cabrini Greens in Bernard Rose's camman although all these comparisons pack more terrifying genre ferocity Daniels lays household drama thick as possession hauntings leak into frame without urgency which works to establish Stakes yet relies heavily on third act payoffs that might not favor a sensational horror debut but enough works as a haunting fight for survival against Monsters and Prejudice proving Daniel's versatility behind the camera the Deliverance is Loosely based on Latoya ammon's reported paranormal Encounters in Gary Indiana Latoya her mother and three children moved into the infamous demon house which celebrity ghost hunter Zack bagin purchased for his 2014 movie demon house and that's where Daniel starts ebony Andre her cancer stricken white mother Alberta Glen Close and three children move into a Pittsburgh home with immediate freak occurrences pesky flies follow a stench in the basement like L toyer recounts Ebony's youngest Andre Anthony B Jenkins starts talking to an imaginary friend The Vibes as we say are off from the start but will Ebony's social worker Cynthia Henry manique believe a solo mother herself abused by Alberta when Sons and Daughters say they woke up with unknown bruises much of the film's first half is a character study focusing on ebony day plays a poverty-stricken matriarch on the brink captured by the camera's scrutinizing perspective Ebony's taste for Al alcohol causes her to be erratic and we see her physically hit eldest son Nate Caleb mcclaflin when he verbally lashes out but Daniels also shows ebony who's paying health care bills or pulling double parent duties the Deliverance questions whether broken Souls stay broken or if hereditary curses can be overcome supernaturally and through shared Humanity it's a defensive story about ebony fighting for her children and those who want to steal them away whether that be the states ruling nurses with judging eyes or Satan himself Daniels employs a through line in the Deliverance that touches on similar ideas expressed in films like get out the blackening and bad hair Ebony's fears are Universal yet days thorny performance comes with strikes against her skin color an unrecognizable close portrays Ebony's white mother whose found God and flirtatiously seduces her chemotherapy nurse Omar EPS often demonstrating the power her pigmentation holds as she waves a baseball bat or avoids punishment for her actions Daniels chooses an imperfect protaganist and asks if the trials she faces are enough to forgive her slip ups and that question breeds Intrigue as the film progresses day's expressions are grimaces temperamental and aggressive yet her dedication is unmatched when it comes to ebony protecting her loved ones viewed as a strike to onlookers she's a dented anchor for a film filled with Satan IC mischief and vile trickery influenced by concerned parties studying her every move when horror imagery thickens and shadowy figures make themselves known the Deliverance plays predictable hits ebony falls for the Demon's traps more than once implicating herself to Alberta or others who find her words untrustworthy Ebony's children succumb to irregular behaviors which are surprisingly off-putting but also hard to rationalize as outbursts when the film tries to stir doubt in the authenticity of their possessions don't forget the Prototype introduction of a faith-based champion who performs whatever ritual will cleanse vessels of damnation which ebony oddly fights at first despite acknowledging something obscure happening to her family Daniels focuses so intently on the bloodline drama between everyone under Ebony's roof that it's easy to notice how the genre influences are straight out of the exorcism movie 101 plays set there is admittedly a healthy dose of Blasphemous symbolism that visually makes its impact from levitations to Stigmata Ebony's offspring are tormented by the malevolence holding their Spirits captive what's less impressive are the digital augmentations to little Andre's face that turn him demonic or the computer generated effects that achieve wall crawling unease the Deliverance is a grab bag of possession Staples tossed into the air at once and they all come crashing ing down in the conclusion Ebony's contortions stick their Landing along with other hellish glimpses while other parts are more aesthetic than functional it's never an outright fumble of the finale's payoffs more a chaotic Montage of rotten tooth devils and bleeding wounds banged into place with a wooden cross despite its tonal puzzle and everything at once climax the Deliverance captivates as an American bread slice of Outsider storytelling for a while you'll question if Daniel's brand of Terror even requires an underworld Misfits appearance ebony faces the same skepticism surrounding ammon's unbelievable accounts then Daniels punches horror elements into full gear and while there's a randomizer sense to everything frights abound and there's a mercilessness that bites down hard execution May slip and slide but Daniels doesn't waste his first crack at the ghoulishness of this Earth or deep below if there's one thing director Lee Daniels is going to do it's Wrangle up an impressive cast list and it's no wonder that stars flock to him he's LED several performers to Oscar nominations including a win for Monique's acclaimed turn in Precious not to mention how close Nicole Kidman and Oprah Winfrey came to nominations for their work in Daniel's films the paper boy and the butler respectively his latest film The Deliverance produced for Netflix features performances from such laed actresses as Andre day Glenn Close and anjenu Ellis Taylor not to mention a long awaited reunion with manique it's the type of Ensemble that would lead to one assuming that the material must be Stellar to attract such Marquee names however the cast is merely a trojan horse fooling viewers into watching a schlocky unoriginal thriller just because it features the leading actress from dangerous liaison doesn't mean it's any different or better than the Litany of of tiresome horror movies that tumble onto streaming services on a weekly basis day plays Ebony a mother trying to raise her children while dealing with alcohol dependency single-handedly a cancer stricken mother close and oh yeah a demon infested home what begins as a series of what appear to be behavioral issues affecting her children quickly progresses to something far more Sinister and Supernatural once all three of her children exhibit Disturbing Behavior at school she seeks out alternative methods to help her family while they're all undeniably talented it can't be said that any member of the esteemed cast is turning in career best work in this film day Taps into her levels of raw vulnerability and unpretentious emotionality that she used so effectively in Daniels the United States versus Billy holiday but ebony is a character with far less Dimension than the legendary jazz singer and although days naturally compelling screen presence makes her a worthy central figure for the film there's just not enough meat on the screenplays proverbial bone for her to work with day tosses herself without abandon into the role as is necessary when working with a director as unsettle as Daniel's but through no fault of her own ebony never comes across as anything deeper or more complex than vaguely troubled there's an obvious Camp quality to Casting Glenn Close in a role like this which will almost certainly draw in a particular actress obsessed band of viewers her makeup is wild her wigs are plentiful and her vocal choices are fascinating so why isn't watching her in this film more enjoyable even in an oddly gleeful way it's never quite clear if we're supposed to look at her character as a voice of reason in Ebony's unsteady life or as a distraction from the things that ebony needs to focus on close is reduced to playing the same two modes over and over again brazenly sex ual or shockingly unconcerned with social pretense one scene where she attacks a car with a baseball bat while completely baldheaded feels destined for immortality as a Twitter reaction video later in the film close gets a chance to delve into some genuinely deranged horror Antics here she finally achieves a level of perverse watchability thanks to her commitment to the truly ridiculous lines of dialogue she has to spit out but likely this impression isn't what the filmmaker intended for these moments the two best performances in the film come from the supporting performances of Monique and Ellis Taylor Monique's work in Daniel's precious is one of the greatest film performances of this century and this creative reunion 15 years later shows just how well the director and actress work together she's tasked with playing the problem character a Child Services representative whose entire function is to make life harder for Ebony however Monique brings a level of sympathy to the character that isn't immediately obvious in the screenplay every time she enters it's hard not to tense up but her skill as an actor means that she never feels as if she's overstaying her welcome Ellis Taylor is the highlight of the film The Gifted performer is always a magnetic presence even while not speaking she's the key to most of the events of the film's second half and her natural Authority helps the audience to understand why would suddenly Place her complete trust in this stranger still despite the hard work that this quartet of actresses puts in the film's structural elements are simply not supportive of their efforts the screenplay is repetitive and oftentimes laughable the same types of demonic activity keep presenting themselves to the family over and over and none of them are realized in a dynamic or original way Daniels is far from a master of horror and the images he conjures up will feel reductive to anyone who's even half watched any of the many films with the word Exorcist in the title and the fact that the film is based on supposed true events makes the many times that evidence of Supernatural violence inflicted upon the children is understandably mistaken for domestic violence challenging to reconcile these questionable plot decisions get even further muddied by the film's ultimate faith-based message which serves to excuse a lot of The Strife that came before in a frustratingly convenient and simplistic manner the Deliverance has all the veneer of a Prestige drama still the compounding misery on display combined with the uncomfortable non-fiction nature of the story ultimately leads to the film feeling merely exploitative and at times hard to watch Daniel's affection for maximalism doesn't lead to an overwhelmingly emotional experience instead the whole thing just feels messy that may sound appealing to some but much like the possessed house its characters inhabit viewers who enter the Deliverance should beware the Deliverance is a 2024 American supernatural horror Thriller film directed by Lee Daniels and written by David kogasa and Elijah bam inspired by The ammon's Haunting case it stars Andre day with Rob Morgan Caleb mcclaflin anjenu Ellis Taylor Tasha Smith Omar EPS Monique and Glenn CL the the film was released in Select theaters on August 16th 2024 and will stream on Netflix on August 30th cast Andre day as ebony an alcoholic mother of a Pennsylvania family whose children purportedly became demonically possessed Glenn Close as Alberta Ebony's religious mother Anthony B Jenkins as Andre Ebony's youngest son Caleb mcclaflin as Nate Ebony's eldest son Demi Singleton as shant Ebony's daughter anenu Ellis Taylor as Reverend bernus James manique as Cynthia Henry a social worker Omar EPS as Melvin Miss Lawrence as Asia Colleen Camp as Dr Hofer Juanita Jennings as Mrs Tucker Kimberly Russell as Mrs Ross Tasha Smith as Pastor Powell production in January 2022 it was reported that Lee Daniels would direct and Andre day Octavia Spencer Glenn Clos Rob Morgan Caleb mcclaflin and anenu Ellis Taylor would star in the film in April 2022 manique who last worked with Daniels in the 29 film precious replaced octavus Spencer in the role also that month Tasha Smith was cast Omar EPS Demi Singleton Miss Lawrence and Anthony B Jenkins round out the cast the film was shot in mid 2022 in Pittsburgh release in January 2022 Netflix won a bidding war over the film rights in a deal of upward of $65 million covering the film's budget and buyouts it was released in Select theaters on August 16th 2024 and will stream on Netflix on August 30th reception on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes 50% of 16 critics reviews are positive with an average rating of 5 510 the Deliverance movie review as a filmmaker Lee Daniels tends to get slagged off on for being flamboyantly garish and over-the-top some of that is deserved but the truth is that when he's cooking on all cylinders Daniels is a gifted filmmaker the Deliverance is the sixth feature he has directed and I've been a fan of three of them precious 2009 he's extraordinary tale of a stunted inner city teenager's escape from her domestic hell the paper boy 2012 a bold and unnerving Southern Gothic Noir and the United States versus Billy Holiday 2021 a musical political biopic that while flawed did a superb job of channeling its subject's complicated ferocity so when I say that the Deliverance a demonic possession movie that Daniels made for Netflix is one of his kitchy extreme schlock extravaganzas I'm not saying that he's always like that but sometimes he is and the Deliverance is not without its socially provocative Daniels undercurrents the film is set in Pittsburgh in 2011 and it's about a family that moves into a house that immediately shows signs of being haunted memo to filmmakers never use flies buzzing around a room to establish the presence of dark Forces it was overly corny and telegraphed in the Amityville Horror in 1979 and it's an even horer device now in the Deliverance almost everything to do with the supernatural that is the devil is something you've seen way too many times before and is therefore a lot less scary than it ought to be the watchable part of the movie is its portrayal of the family which is very Lee Daniels Andre day so potent as Billy Holiday plays Ebony a single mother struggling to raise three kids teenage shant Demi Singleton and Nate Caleb mcclaflin and young dree Anthony be Jenkins without much money and with nerves that frayed long ago she's separated from her husband who is doing a tour of Duty in Iraq usually the heroine of a horror film is a besieged innocent but before the Deliverance gets to The Possession parted focuses on the demons in Ebony her willingness to hit her kids and her tendency to lash out in a way that's nasty and full of Rage at everyone around her even the devil standing at the top of the basement stairs where those flies are buzzing around she shouts if somebody's down there I'll you up ebony whose temper has gotten her jail time struggles with alcohol but seems these days more sober than not yet even when she isn't drinking we see her smack Dre in the mouth at the dinner table because he spoke up about wanting milk accusing her of being too cheap to buy it she says that he's lacking ose intolerant but she's never been to a doctor about it is Ebony the film's equivalent of Mary the monster mother played by manique in Precious far from it yet there is an overlap she's a mother who's been coarsing at times into meanness she's also quite protective unleashing her helian wrath on a teen bully down the block what Daniels wants us to see is that ebony is a conduit for forces of Oppression economic and racial that have dogged her life and turned it into a daily pressure cooker the movie makes no excuses for her but it does show us that her demons overlap with societies and day with a face of expressive misery and the energy of an imploding firecracker portrays her as a shrewd Fusion of herodan and victim Monique is actually on hand here she plays the DCS officer who oversees ebony like a prim detective looking for any sign that she's messing up and should therefore have her kids taken away for all of days searing anger the showboat performance in the Deliverance is the one given by Glenn Close as Berta Ebony's white mother who has come to live with them berda is a reformed junkie who found Jesus and is now going through chemo which has left her head with nothing but scraggly wisps on top but she wears wigs of showy blonde curls and goes out in revealing tops flirting like mad berda is at war with her daughter but she also you know cares and it's fun to see Glenn Close cut loose in what is actually a rather well-thought out performance even if the character makes her mama in hillbilly elegy look understated the kids start doing weird things Dre bangs on the basement door and then stands there like a zombie at school all three engage in a bizarre acting out that involves botly fluids is this a projection of their suffering from domestic abuse or are they being taken over by Spirits yes and yes and that's supposed to be the film's Intrigue but once the devil actually takes over and an exorcist excuse me I meant an apostle played by anenu Ellis Taylor from origin shows up all in order to perform an exorcism excuse me I meant a Deliverance which turns out to be the exact same thing Daniels reaches into the bag of levitating skin modeling cracking spider limb tricks that have been propelling this genre for decades es The Twist is that ebony ends up squaring off against herself literally facing down her own demons but it turns out those demons were only halfway interesting when they were real single parent Ebony Jackson moves her family to a new home for a fresh start but something evil already lives there supposedly inspired by a true story more specifically the life of Latoya Ammons and set during the early 2010s Lee Daniels with an over heated screenplay from David kogasa and Elijah bam the Deliverance comes across as a contemporary turn off the screw by way of copious amounts of cliched black trauma this is to the point where once the film is over and the credits try to convince viewers once again that this is all grounded in some semblance of reality one has likely already forgotten about that detail and will probably just cackle I certainly did especially after that outrageous finale it also does doesn't sit right that in addition to once again treating characters with cruelty rather than genuinely exploring the human element of their circumstances and dilemmas Lee Daniels seems to perceive this concept as a means to push a twisted version of faith-based propaganda lo and behold a director's statement confirms I'm here to scare you into finding your faith if there is a God in this world this film will finally scare movie aor away from Lee Daniels perhaps that sounds harsh but this is made all the more frustrating since there is an intriguing concept at the core here at least before Lee Daniels instantly cranks it up to goofy levels of domestic turmoil and family bickering laced with abuse for good measure not to mention a pointlessly tasteless third act reveal that one of these characters is a survivor of seemingly repeated sexual assault a financially struggling working class mom ebony Andra day A Gifted singer and actress who could nonetheless always be counted on to elicit some real emotion working alongside Lee Daniels reunited following their collaboration on the United States versus Billy Holiday looks after her three children and cancer recovering mother Alberta Glenn Close behind on bills and challenged with putting the kids through school she also regularly gets into nasty verbal quarrels with Alberta who is concerned with dressing sexy and her dating life yes you read that correctly with generation physical abuse a Hot Topic her husband is away fighting a war meanwhile Andre the youngest child played by Anthony B Jenkins is targeted by an imaginary friend while undergoing some of the usual horror tropes such as blacking out and strange behavior that doesn't align with his typical personality over time whatever entity is living in this house the family has been here for around 3 years now starts slowly possessing others and aning up the aggression within them ebony also has a rough past related to drinking and drugs with child services a woman played by manique which feels like a sick joke giving her that role after having won an Oscar for portraying a repulsive mother in Le Daniel's precious visiting often child abuse also seems to run in the family as early on in the film during dinner the usual squabbling is taken a notch too far with ebony smacking Andre across the face and drawing some blood on his lip the question then becomes especially since the opening credits and ominous music courtesy of Lucas vidle bluntly Express that this is a horror movie how much of this abusive behavior is the result of demonic possession and how much is coming from within the flaws of these characters as people a stronger director and film would understand this none of these fractured relationships amounts to much however there is an intriguing sequence that sees Alberta aside with a white Doctor Who claims everything is psychologically okay with the children this scene also comes after a montage of inappropriate behavior at school in which the youngest child flings his feces at his teacher so realistically it's hard for anyone to buy into a damn thing that doctor says the point is that this leads to a race relations argument between mother and daughter an interesting Dynamic that is quickly forgotten to get to more cheap scares event and Apostle anenu Ellis Taylor also giving a serviceable performance without embarrassing herself comes into play transforming the Deliverance into an overtly black Take On The Exorcist which also doesn't work aside from one or two disturbingly bloody visuals because Lee Daniels treats the material like he is doing scary movie if you thought Glenn Close had some hilarious line readings in the biopic about that couch JD Vance just wait until you see her in demonic possession mode while also failing at telling a story about family and shamelessly pushing the importance of religion other information about this film Lee Daniels Netflix haunted house Thriller the Deliverance opens by solemnly promising that it's inspired by true events it's a cliched start to some cliched horror but you'll be rewarded for looking further as it turns out those alleged events are just an excuse to explore quieter and more compelling truths this is thanks in large part to a tour to force turn from Andre day as exhausted single mother ebony she and her three children Anthony be Jenkins Caleb mclin Demi Singleton have just moved to a new home and what with the Flies buzzing around the basement and the kids's newly weird Behavior it's pretty clear something is off we've all seen enough movies to know where this is headed but it takes ebony a while to figure it out and you can't blame her she may be dealing with an ancient demon breaking out of hell but she's already got her hands more than full in this realm her life is built on contradictions and the balance has tilted way out of control her husband has left and is both challenging her for custody and leaving her to handle everything her Born Again mother Glenn Close has moved in to help but their relationship is shadowed by a dark past ebony works hard all day and still can't pay her bills bills she loves her kids as fiercely as anyone could but sometimes she hurts them too the scariest threat of all at least from a non-paranormal perspective may be Cynthia manique a non-nonsense social worker she's looking for reasons to remove the kids from this unstable family and Ebony can't help giving her some Daniels hasn't always been able to find a steady equilibrium between melodrama and drama but his cast is compelling enough to ground even the most outlandish moments and there are plenty in the script written by David Kesha and Elijah bam day the United States versus Billy Holiday is so good at blending Ebony's self-hatred and mother love that she keeps us on her side no matter what's happening and The Supporting Cast is equally strong manique layers the stern Cynthia with unexpected empathy while anenu Ellis Taylor King Richard somehow makes an exorcist or Apostle as she calls herself steady and believable the kids are all solid and sympathetic and close manages to stay just on the right side of her chaotic character as it happens close has eight Oscar nominations day and Ellis Taylor have one each and Monique W for Daniels precious so it is occasionally disconcerting to see such accomplished actors drawn into literally head spinning be movie mck and frankly the horror elements too often seem like a distraction anyway Daniels brings nothing new to the genre and the big exorcism all floating bodies fiery religious iconography and distorted vocal effects is a disappointing day Numa to the story's very real and relatable issues in a way though that final letdown speaks to the strength of the rest of the movie Ebony's life is already a nightmare in which she's long been fighting against demons even greater than the one hiding in the basement and her kids may be possessed but they're also acting out as any hurt and Confused children in their situation might so ultimately Daniels has made a touching and forceful film about three generations attempting to overcome familial and societal trauma it's only the devil who underd delivers Lee Daniel's first ever horror effort the Deliverance is not to be confused with 1972's Deliverance although much like John borman's three-time Oscar nominee about idiot canor Going Through Hell in rural Georgia it does make movie watching pretty painful not since hillbilly elegy has Netflix done Glenn Close so dirty that's true even taking into account her small part in the hugely horrible Heart of Stone for the streamer last year the Deliverance director Daniels an ambitious Storyteller with an admirably spotty track record is best known for creating the TV show Empire with Danny Strong and before that that helming the sundance's darling precious which yes is based on the novel Push by Sapphire thank you so much for remembering back in 2009 Daniel's talents as a producer on 2001's Monsters ball preceded the success of his eventual best picture Contender precious but the Bleak family drama about a black family living in Harlem is what turned him into a celebrated director his gritty portrait of a relentlessly abused 16-year-old gab Sid was dark violent and hard to take Daniel's approach to creating cinematic realism had its detractors but bold Visions make great directors those talents are still very much alive in Daniels who has earned the right as a filmmaker to recruit singular acting Titans like close anenu Ellis Taylor and Monique from precious into a movie as ill-advised as the Deliverance it's an exceptionally tough year to be trying your hand in Horrors exorcism markets but Daniel's idea to crack open his own legacy and morph a harrowing drama about a struggling family into an extreme genre effort could have worked sadly the smart restraint he once showed with precious always knowing just when to pull back is replaced here with a scattershot execution that has more half scary ideas than it can manage living with her bombastic cancer patient mother Alberta clo the tough as Nails ebony audre day is is a recovering alcoholic and parent to three children teenager Nate Caleb mcclaflin middle child shant Demi Singleton and the youngest Andre Anthony B Jenkins things are tense in the house way before anything possession likee is suggested for one thing the kid's Dad was deployed to Iraq months ago the bills are piling up and Ebony has no idea when he'll be back even worse Alberta says the catfish has too much garlic oh Alber the mouthy matriarch has a way of getting under Ebony's skin and that tension boils over into a few reasonably well-written fights which frequently sent her race Daniel's willingness to once again explore even the thorniest Dynamics of the black experience is commendable almost 15 years since Precious however it's worth noting that close's casting is a bit of a head scratcher as the true story about an Indiana woman's haunting that Daniels is supposedly telling her name is Latoya Ammons look it up featured no real life counterpart to the doomed scen stealer Lee Daniel's first ever horror effort the Deliverance is not to be confused with 1972's Deliverance although much like John borman's three-time Oscar nominee about idiot canoers Going Through Hell in rural Georgia it does make movie watching pretty painful not since hillbilly elegy has Netflix done Glenn Close so dirty that's true even taking into account her small part in the hugely horrible Heart of Stone for the streamer last year the Deliverance director Daniels an ambitious Storyteller with an admirably spotty track record is best known for creating the TV show Empire with Danny Strong and before that helming the sundance's darling precious which yes is based on the novel Push by Sapphire thank you so much for remembering the Criterion collections November 2024 releases include Paper Moon the shape of water and a 4K restoration of Seven Samurai back in 2009 Daniel's talents as a producer on 2001's Monsters ball preceded the success of his eventual best picture Contender precious but the Bleak family drama about a black family living in Harlem is what turned him into a celebrated director his gritty portrait of a relentlessly abused 16-year-old gabri Sid was dark violent and hard to take Daniel's approach to creating cinematic realism had its detractors but bold Visions make great directors those talents are still very much alive in Daniels who has earned the right as a filmmaker to recruit singular acting Titans like close anenu Ellis Taylor and Monique from precious into a movie as ill- advised as the Deliverance it's an exceptionally tough year to be trying your hand in horror exorcism Market but Daniel's idea to crack open his own legacy and morph a harrowing drama about a struggling family into an extreme genre effort could have worked sadly the smart restraint he once showed with precious always knowing just when to pull back is replaced here with a scattershot execution that has more half scary ideas than it can manage living with her bombastic cancer patient mother Alberta close the tough as Nails ebony audre day is a recovering Al coholic and parent to three children teenager Nate Caleb mcclaflin middle child shant Demi Singleton and the youngest Andre Anthony B Jenkins things are tense in the house way before anything possession likee is suggested for one thing the kid's Dad was deployed to Iraq months ago the bills are piling up and Ebony has no idea when he'll be back even worse Alberta says the catfish has too much garlic oh Alberta The mathy Matriarch has a way of getting under Ebony's skin and that tension boils over into a few reasonably well-written fights which frequently Center race Daniel's willingness to once again explore even the thorniest Dynamics of the black experience is commendable almost 15 years since Precious however it's worth noting that cl's casting is a bit of a head scratcher as the true story about an Indiana woman's haunting that Daniels is supposedly telling her name is is Latoya Ammons look it up featured no real life counterpart to the doomed scen stealer flies start trickling out of the basement in one of the first scenes and the sleep walking Andre makes a memorably menacing display of chugging milk straight from the carton social worker Cynthia manique adds to the chaos with frequent unannounced visits as the threat of Ebony's children being taken away from her Looms in the ever shortening distance the languishing mom swears she isn't drinking and something is wrong in her house of course No One Believes her when the kids start showing up with bruises after all ebony does hit them the audience can see that much even with plenty of winks and nods coated into Alberta's suspicious Devotion to the church it takes more than 40 minutes for the Deliverance to decide it wants to be Supernatural that might be something of a semi spoiler but considering how much of Ebony's almost 2-hour Journey interplays directly with obvious Clues pointing to the devil it's hard to ignore and review had Daniels explored all the underpinnings of a horror outing as a dramatic allegory for addiction as the film's opening quote I need forgiveness for my sins but I also need deliverance from the power of sin suggests he might the director could have fared better than going all the way to ghosts or is it demons Reverend bernus Ellis Taylor attempts to carry the film over that spiritual hump alas not even the legendary actress who is just one Tony short of an egot can keep the deliverance from falling into a melodrama akin to Daniel's earlier the paper boy as far as final girls are concerned ebony has plenty of good moments screaming doctor my son ate his own today is not one of them things for the family go from bad to worse remarkably fast and what happens to the 77-year-old close in the finale is deeply unfortunate it don't misread that as me suggesting that something particularly grotesque or interesting happens just understand that what Daniels does to the Fatal Attraction icon both visually and through the words this quietly unhinged script makes her say is so gross and so so goofy stranger things actor mlin gets props for at least selling his part as a promising teenager who with or without his agent needs to pack his and get out of there the Deliverance certainly has its poignant scenes sitting with her youngest son PR genre turn ebony Pond the cycle of abuse and wonders aloud I don't know how such a good person came out of somebody like me it's equally marvelous that a movie this misguided could come from a filmmaker as skilled as Daniels tying a million ideas together into a rope just long enough to hang itself Netflix's regrettable attempt at subverting expectations results in a throwaway effort that wastes its big names in the end it's more rough than precious a storied success that at least in the critical sense still haunts Daniels to this day more details Lee Daniel's tradition of telling vulnerable black stories continues with his first directorial horror project the Deliverance writers David kogasa and Elijah bham Channel exorcism titles from David Gordon greens The Exorcist believer to James WS The Conjuring Maybe too literally Pittsburgh's semi- Suburban outskirts establish surroundings like Cabrini Greens in Bernard Rose's caman although all these comparisons pack more terrifying genre ferocity Daniels lays household drama thick as possession hauntings leak into frame without urgency which works to establish Stakes yet relies heavily on third act payoffs that might not favor a sensational horror debut but enough works as a haunting fight for survival against monsters and Prejudice proving Daniel's versatility behind the camera the Deliverance is Loosely based on Latoya ammon's reported paranormal Encounters in Gary Indiana Latoya her mother and three children moved into the infamous demon house which celebrity ghost hunter Zack Baggins purchased for his 2014 movie demon house and that's where Daniel starts ebony Andre day her cancer stricken white mother Alberta Glen Close and three children move into into a Pittsburgh home with immediate freak occurrences pesky flies follow a stench in the basement like Latoya recounts Ebony's youngest Andre Anthony be Jenkins starts talking to an imaginary friend The Vibes as we say are off from the start but will Ebony's social worker Cynthia Henry manique believe a solo mother herself abused by Alberta when Sons and Daughters say they woke up with unknown bruises much of the film's first half is the character study focusing on ebony day plays a poverty-stricken matriarch on the brink captured by the camera's scrutinizing perspective Ebony's taste for alcohol causes her to be erratic and we see her physically hit eldest son Nate Caleb mcclaflin when he verbally lashes out but Daniels also shows ebony who's paying health care bills or pulling double parent duties the Deliverance questions whether broken Souls stay broken or if hereditary curses can be overcome supernaturally and through shared Humanity it's a defensive story about ebony fighting for her children and those who want to steal them away whether that be the states ruling nurses with judging eyes or Satan himself Daniels employs a through line in the Deliverance that touches on similar ideas expressed in films like get out the blackening and bad hair Ebony's fears are Universal yet day's thorny performance comes with strikes against her skin color an unrecognizable close portrays Ebony's white mother who's found God and flirtatiously seduces her chemotherapy nurse Omar EPS often demonstrating the power her pigmentation holds as she waves a baseball bat or avoids punishment for her actions Daniels chooses an imperfect protagonist and asks if the trials she faces are enough to forgive her slip ups and that question breeds Intrigue as the film progresses day's expressions are grimaces temperamental and aive aggressive yet her dedication is unmatched when it comes to ebony protecting her loved ones viewed as a strike to onlookers she's a dented anchor for a film filled with satanic mischief and vile trickery influenced by concerned parties studying her every move when horror imagery thickens and shadowy figures make themselves known the Deliverance plays predictable hits ebony falls for the demon traps more than once implicating herself to Alberta or others who find her words untrustworthy Ebony's children succumb to irregular behaviors which are surprisingly off-putting but also hard to rationalize as outbursts when the film tries to stir doubt in the authenticity of their possessions don't forget the Prototype introduction of a faith-based champion who performs whatever ritual will cleanse vessels of damnation which ebony oddly fights at first despite acknowledging something obscure happening to her family Daniel's focuses so intently on the bloodline drama between everyone under Ebony's roof that it's easy to notice how the genre influences are straight out of the exorcism movie 101 playset there is admittedly a healthy dose of Blasphemous symbolism that visually makes its impact from levitations to Stigmata Ebony's offspring are tormented by the malevolence holding their Spirits captive what's less impressive are the digital augmentations to little Andre's face that turn him demonic or the computer generated effects that achieve wall crawling unease the Deliverance is a grab bag of possession Staples tossed into the air at once and they all come crashing down in the conclusion Ebony's contortions stick their Landing along with other hellish glimpses while other parts are more aesthetic than functional it's never an outright fumble of the finale's payoffs more a chaotic Montage of rotten tooth devils and bleeding wounds banged into place with a wooden cross despite its tonal puzzle and everything at once climax the Deliverance captivates as an American bread slice of Outsider storytelling for a while you'll question if Daniel's brand of Terror even requires an underworld Misfits appearance ebony faces the same skepticism surrounding ammon's unbelievable accounts then Daniels punches horror elements into full gear and while there's a randomizer sense to everything frights abound and there's a mercilessness that bites down hard execution May slip and slide but Daniels doesn't waste his first crack at the ghoulishness of this Earth or deep below if there's one thing director Lee Daniels is going to do it's Wrangle up an impressive cast list and it's no wonder that stars flock to him he's LED several performers to Oscar nominations including a win for Monique's acclaimed turn in Precious not to mention how close Nicole Kidman and Oprah Winfrey came to nominations for their work in Daniel's films the paper boy and the butler respectively his latest film The Deliverance produced for Netflix features performances from such lauded actresses as Andre day Glenn Close and anenu Ellis Taylor not to mention a long awaited reunion with manique it's the type of Ensemble that would lead to one assuming that the material must be Stellar to attract such Marquee names however the cast is merely a trojan horse fooling View ERS into watching a schlocky unoriginal thriller just because it features the leading actress from dangerous liaison doesn't mean it's any different or better than the Litany of tiresome horror movies that tumble onto streaming services on a weekly basis day plays Ebony a mother trying to raise her children while dealing with alcohol dependency single-handedly a cancer stricken mother close and oh yeah a demon infested home what begins as a series of what appear to be behavioral issues affecting her children quickly progresses to something far more Sinister and Supernatural once all three of her children exhibit Disturbing Behavior at school she seeks out alternative methods to help her family while they're all undeniably talented it can't be said that any member of the esteemed cast is turning in career best work in this film day Taps into her levels of raw vulnerability and unpretentious emotionality that she used so effectively in Daniels the United States versus Billy holiday but ebony is a character with far less Dimension than the legendary jazz singer and although DA's naturally compelling screen presence makes her a worthy central figure for the film there's just not enough meat on the screenplays proverbial bone for her to work with day tosses herself without abandon into the role as is necessary when working with a director as unsettle as Daniel's but through no fault of her own ebony never comes across as anything deeper or more complex than vaguely troubled there's an obvious Camp quality to Casting Glenn Close in a role like this which will almost certainly draw in a particular actress obsessed band of viewers her makeup is wild her wigs are plentiful and her vocal choices are fascinating so why isn't watching her in this film more enjoyable even in an oddly gleeful way it's never quite clear if we're supposed to look at her character as a voice of reason in evidence eon's unsteady life or as a distraction from the things that ebony needs to focus on close is reduced to playing the same two modes over and over again brazenly sexual or shockingly unconcerned with social pretense one scene where she attacks a car with a baseball bat while completely baldheaded feels destined for immortality as a Twitter reaction video later in the film close gets a chance to delve into some genuinely deranged horror Antics here she finally achieved IES a level of perverse watchability thanks to her commitment to the truly ridiculous lines of dialogue she has to spit out but likely this impression isn't what the filmmaker intended for these moments the two best performances in the film come from the supporting performances of manique and Ellis Taylor Monique's work in Daniel's precious is one of the greatest film performances of this century and this creative reunion 15 years later shows just how well the director and actress work together she's tasked with playing the problem character a Child Services representative whose entire function is to make life harder for Ebony however Monique brings a level of sympathy to the character that isn't immediately obvious in the screenplay every time she enters it's hard not to tense up but her skill as an actor means that she never feels as if she's overstaying her welcome Ellis Taylor is the highlight of the film The Gifted performer is always a magnetic presence even while not speaking she's the key to most of the events of the film's second half and her natural Authority helps the audience to understand why ebony would suddenly Place her complete trust in this stranger still despite the hard work that this quartet of actresses puts in the film's structural elements are simply not supportive of their efforts the screenplay is repetitive and often times laughable the same types of demonic activity keep presenting themselves to the family over and over and none of them are realized in a dynamic or original way Daniels is far from a master of horror and the images he conjures up will feel reductive to anyone who's even half watched any of the many films with the word Exorcist in the title and the fact that the film is based on supposed true events makes the many times that evidence of Supernatural violence inflicted upon the children is understandably mistaken for domestic violence challenged to reconcile these questionable plot decisions get even further muddied by the film's ultimate faith-based message which serves to excuse a lot of The Strife that came before in a frustratingly convenient and simplistic manner the Deliverance has all the veneer of a Prestige drama still the compounding misery on display combined with the uncomfortable non-fiction nature of the story ultimately leads to the film feeling merely exploitative and at times hard to watch watch Daniel's affection for maximalism doesn't lead to an overwhelmingly emotional experience instead the whole thing just feels messy that may sound appealing to some but much like the possessed house its characters inhabit viewers who enter the Deliverance should beware this film directed by Lee Daniels written by David kaga Elijah bam produced by Lee Daniels Todd crits Jackson nuan Tucker Tuli Pamela Oz Williams starring Andre day Glenn Close anenu Ellis Taylor Monique cinematography Eli Aronson edited by Stan salfas music by Lucas viddle production companies Lee Daniels entertainment Tucker Tuli entertainment turn left Productions distributed by Netflix release date August 16th 2024 country United States language English so guys this is the review of the Deliverance movie and some information about it how do you like our today's video please let us know by commenting and if you like this video please like it share it and don't forget