Movie Review: "The Exorcist: Believer"

The Halloween Classic, “The Exorcist” has finally gotten a sequel fifty years later. “The Exorcist: Believer” was released on Oct. 6, 2023,  just in time for Halloween.

The first half of this movie is excellent. There is a lot of setup and character building that makes the story feel real and relatable. This wonderful exposition allows viewers to understand why Angela sneaks off into the woods with her friend. The backstory also allows the viewers to sympathize with Angela’s father throughout the movie. 

Angela and Katherine disappear for three days and return possessed. Throughout their time back home, the girls start acting extremely weird and the odd behavior progresses. This was honestly done very well and created some intense scenes. I really enjoy that the girls did not get found insane, but rather the possession happened progressively. 

Unfortunately, the second half of the movie falls flat. The parents, pastors and neighbors get together to exorcise the demons from the children. This should be the scariest and most intense part of the movie, but it made me laugh most of the time due to how ridiculous this felt. The exorcism started scary, but it just went on for so long and kept going around in circles.

A highlight of this film was the return of the original actors Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair who made cameos. This is always fun when original characters appear in a new movie years later. I expected Burstyn to come in and be a force to be reckoned with, but instead, she almost immediately got her eyes gouged out. This felt weird to me and out of place due to neither of the girls harming anyone else in the entirety of the movie (until the exorcism). 

Overall, I’d give this movie 5/10 stars due to the great start of the movie as well as the phenomenal acting from the cast.