Reviews
[TV Review] “The Exorcist” Is Worth a Watch…If You Stick Around For the Final Five Minutes
Let’s be honest here. No one was asking for a television adaptation of William Friedkin’s seminal 1973 horror film, itself an adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s novel of the same name. Alas, with the rise of horror television and the unexpected quality of similar shows like Hannibal, it seems hard to believe that it took this long for a network to greenlight a show like The Exorcist.
The Exorcist takes place in the same universe as the original film (as evidenced by a newspaper clipping seen that references the events of Friedkin’s film), and follows Father Tomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera), a progressive priest who is brought into the lives of the Rance family when matriarch Angela (the Geena Davis) surmises that her daughter Katherine (Brianne Howey) is possessed by a demon. It isn’t long before Tomas seeks the help of Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels), a veteran priest who is familiar with exorcisms.
Unfortunately for The Exorcist, there just aren’t enough new ideas on display to fully justify its existence. Possession stories have been done to death, and while it is admittedly going to be difficult to bring anything new to the table, The Exorcist doesn’t even try. Even the scares are predictable. There was a moment when Tomas is fixing the circuit breaker in the church’s basement only to turn around and OH MY GOD ANGELA IS STANDING RIGHT THERE. Jump scares such as these are lazy and not worthy of the source material.
As uninspiring as the scares are, nothing in The Exorcist is outright bad (the sound design is the most memorable part of the episode). The pilot, which was written by Jeremy Slater (The Lazarus Effect, last year’s Fantastic Four reboot) just has a “been there, seen that” air that pervades the whole thing. Director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) gets great performances from his cast. Davis and Herrera are the standouts, but Daniels has some impressive moments in his handful of scenes. Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) even pops up for a bit as the Rance patriarch, but almost little to no information is given about him or the brain damage that affects him.
There are some tidbits of backstory given to the characters (mostly Tomas) that plant the seeds of more character developments in future episodes, but the pilot is so focused on the possession aspect that most of the characters are relegated to background objects. Focusing so much on the possession aspect is not the wisest path for this series to take. If you’re going to adapt the most highly regarded possession film of all time, don’t try to replicate that film’s scenes. Give your audience something new to latch on to that will prevent them from thinking “the movie did this better.”
The pilot actually rushes through a lot just to get to the possession. For example, Angela approaches Tomas about her suspicions about 20 minutes into the episode. At this point the viewer has hardly seen anything that would lead a rational person to suspect demonic possession, so it seems downright silly that this woman would jump to this conclusion so hastily.
All of this being said, it’s worth sticking around for the final five minutes. They offer up a plot development that, while not entirely unpredictable, shows that the series has a few tricks up its sleeves that could make future episodes worth tuning in for. I wouldn’t say I’m hooked, but I’m intrigued.
One has to wonder what Fox is thinking airing The Exorcist on Friday nights. Friday is typically a television burial ground, but it can also provide an excuse for a network to renew a show with the lowest of ratings. This decision may bode well for The Exorcist, as it just barely makes you want to keep watching. It’s not must-see-TV, but it’s worth checking out.
The Exorcist premieres on Friday September 23rd at 9/8c on Fox.
The sweet delight of a Lifetime film is knowing exactly what’s going to happen at any given time. It’s familiar in a reassuring way, which is why He Couldn’t Let Go proves to be a quintessential Lifetime title. There are no surprises to be found here: the story beats are all anticipated, and the reveals are heavily telegraphed, and that’s totally fine.
On the surface, Mariana Cruz (Christina Milian) has a great life. She’s the Head of Personnel at Pana Optic Security, where she’s introduced calmly and confidently dealing with Herbert (Andrew E. Wheeler), a predatory CFO who has abused his company status with a female subordinate. It’s a lengthy sequence, but one that serves to both introduce Mariana’s talent for reading body language, as well as what appears to be the film’s antagonist.
It’s the former aspect that provided the film’s original title, and director Cory Miller provides ample visual cues to help the audience see the world through Mariana’s eyes. Tight close-ups on Herbert’s hands as he fiddles with his cufflinks, or the movement of his feet, confirm when he’s lying, all of which is clocked by Mariana and then unsubtly confirmed by screenwriter Robert Belushi’s dialogue: “Your mouth can lie, but your body won’t”.
After Herbert escapes security and flees the building, He Couldn’t Let Go resets to flesh out the rest of Mariana’s life, including her relationship with hunky fiancé Nick (Gregg Wayans); a plucky best friend in co-worker Fay (Annie Gonzalez); and a beautiful, semi-isolated home in the burbs.
The plot kicks back into gear when Nick is delayed at work, and Mariana is forced to entertain his old College friend Dylan (Steven Strait), a chef visiting from Hong Kong. Shocking no one, there’s nothing but red flags when it comes to Dylan. He’s too perfect: he cooks a near-perfect mofongo, a favorite dish of Mariana’s; he’s familiar with her Bogotá hangouts, and he’s ready to learn salsa moves from her in the living room.
But Mariana’s FBI training (!) means that eventually she begins to pick up on his deceptive body language, and, as the evening progresses, she chips away at his pat answers. What keeps this cat-and-mouse section interesting, since we obviously know there’s more to Dylan than he’s letting on, is how Dylan manages to subtly get under Mariana’s skin while she’s reading him.
Dylan does so by undermining her faith in Nick by suggesting that he has a questionable past, which deftly ties back to the events of the opening with Herbert. The questions Dylan raises also allow the introduction of Calvin (screenwriter Belushi), a red shirt who is called into action when Mariana covertly tries to fact check Dylan’s claims about Nick.
Of course, there’s never any doubt about who will meet a violent end or where the true danger lies. This means that despite the brief 90-minute runtime, the film’s second act drags a little because we’re waiting for the profiler to catch up to what the audience already knows.*
*Sidebar: It’s here that the FBI training element doesn’t fully work because it takes Mariana far too long to catch on to Dylan.
Thankfully, the last act kicks the violence into overdrive as the house becomes a battlefield. While one wishes that Milian was given more to do in the first two acts than simply react to Dylan’s revelations, the character never comes off as dumb. In fact, there are several moments when she makes the best possible decision available and circumstances – or Dylan – cut her off at the pass.
The reveal about who Dylan is and what he wants isn’t particularly revelatory, but the extended climax, which features several chases and violent set pieces, is effective. Milian and Strait also have good chemistry, which helps to carry the saggy pacing of the middle stretch, while the height difference between the actors ensures that Dylan is appropriately menacing when they’re in close quarters.
Aside from the surprising detail about Mariana’s FBI training, He Couldn’t Let Me Go doesn’t stray far from the typical Lifetime formula. For fans of domestic thrillers, however, that won’t be an issue; there’s comfort to be found in these kinds of narratives, so why mess with a good thing?
He Couldn’t Let Go premiered on Lifetime Movie Network on July 11.
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