What an excellent day for an exorcism… again. For the first time in nearly twenty years, The Exorcist franchise has returned to the big screen with The Exorcist: Believer, which is expected to be the first of a brand-new trilogy. The new film serves as a direct sequel to the 1973 original and features the return of Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil.
“Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding has raised their daughter on his own,” reads the official synopsis for The Exorcist: Believer. “But when Angela and her friend Katherine, disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.” In addition to Ellen Burstyn, The Exorcist: Believer also stars Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Lidya Jewett, Olivia Marcum, and more. The film was directed by David Gordon Green, who also helmed the Halloween trilogy, from a script he co-wrote with Peter Sattler.
The sequels (and prequels) which followed the original Exorcist were fairly hit or miss, and unfortunately, The Exorcist: Believer is shaping up to be the latter. While the film is expected to have a fairly decent box-office opening, the reviews haven’t been kind. In his review, our own Chris Bumbray said that the sequel is an abysmal, dull attempt to relaunch the franchise. “It’s supposed to be the first entry in a new trilogy of Exorcist films, but the movie is so abysmal one shouldn’t hold out too much hope for a follow-up,” Bumbray wrote. “While it may have a strong box-office opening, word of mouth seems sure to be dire. The only thing that saves Exorcist: Believer from being called the worst Exorcist movie ever is the fact that this particular series has some very bad entries.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.
Universal and Blumhouse have already slated another sequel, The Exorcist: Deceiver, which is set to hit theaters on April 18, 2025, but the reception towards this one could change things. The film is currently sitting at 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, which surprisingly places it in the middle of the pack, above Exorcist II: The Heretic at 9% and Exorcist: The Beginning at 11% but behind Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist at 30%, The Exorcist III at 58%, and The Exorcist at 78%.
Let us know what you thought of The Exorcist: Believer in the comments below!
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