The first five minutes of The Deliverance pique your curiosity as the camera moves through murals and unidentifiable individuals painted on walls. Some are disfigured. There are childlike caricatures that, upon close inspection, can disturb you. But soon enough, the facade of such intensity wears off, leaving behind something that’s cartoonish and amateur, not unlike the drawings.
Ebony (Andra Day) raises three kids—Andre (Anthony B Jenkins), Shante (Demi Singleton) and Nate (Caleb McLaughlin)—while being separated from her partner and having to deal with alcoholism and financial constraints. But she soon finds herself dealing with an evil entity in her house. Alberta (Glenn Close), Ebony’s mother, helps her as she deals with cancer herself, only to reveal a fraught mother-daughter relationship that is on the verge of collapse. The makers mistake needlessly lengthy world-building for a slow-burn thriller as unimportant pieces of information keep being thrown at you.
Even though you wait patiently for the film to pull the rug from under your feet, nothing noteworthy happens until the midpoint. It is only when Andre starts showing signs of demonic possession that interest starts rising. But then, overused horror film tropes snuff it out. At one point, it feels like the film is unsure of whether to be a social drama, thriller, and/or a horror flick. It also tries to deliver commentary on religion and love, but fails on both counts.
