Demonic (2021 film)
Demonic | |
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![]() US theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Neill Blomkamp |
Written by | Neill Blomkamp |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Byron Kopman |
Edited by | Austyn Daines |
Music by | Ola Strandh |
Production companies | |
Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 104 minutes |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Box office | $155,304[1] |
Demonic is a 2021 science fiction[2] horror film written, co-produced and directed by Neill Blomkamp. Filmed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the film stars Carly Pope, Chris William Martin, Michael J. Rogers, Nathalie Boltt, Terry Chen and Kandyse McClure. It was released on August 20, 2021, receiving generally negative reviews from critics.
Plot[]
Carly (Carly Pope) is a young woman who has fallen out of contact with her mother Angela (Nathalie Boltt). Angela is convicted of killing over 21 people in a killing spree where she burned down a care home she worked at and poisoned a church. Nobody has any idea why Angela went on a rampage and Carly has not seen her in years. Carly is supported by her best friend Sam (Kandyse McClure). The pair cut off their other childhood friend Martin (Chris William Martin) after he began to make strange theories about Angela. Carly is plagued by nightmares about Angela. One day, Carly receives a text from Martin who wants to meet up and talk. Upon meeting, Martin tells Carly that he was invited to be part of a focus group test for a company called Therapol which involved real medical patients, one of which was a comatose Angela. Carly is stunned by this revelation and is later contacted by Therapol, who asks her to visit their facility to discuss Angela.
She meets scientists Daniel (Terry Chen) and Michael (Michael J. Rogers) who explain Angela fell into a coma following a series of violent episodes in prison and is "locked-in" inside her body. They tell Carly that Angela is highly active inside a simulation, calling for Carly and Martin. They ask Carly if she is willing to enter Angela's mind to talk to her, which she reluctantly agrees to do so. In the simulation, Carly enters a copy of her childhood home and angrily confronts Angela about her crimes. Angela, fully able to speak in the simulation, demands that Carly leaves. Carly returns home, that night she has a nightmare where she finds a strange symbol made of a raven carcass.
Carly arrives at Therapol for another trip inside the simulation. This time she enters through a new tunnel into a field outside an old sanatorium which Angela had worked at. She meets with Angela who claims that she was not the person who called for Carly and Martin. Angela's body in the simulation starts to glitch out and the scientists ignore a terrified Carly's demands to be removed from the simulation. Entering the sanatorium, she finds Sam's body before being attacked by an Avian like Demon who slashes its arm open, creating the same cut on Carly's real-life body. Carly exits the simulation and tells Daniel and Michael how years ago, she and Martin found Angela in the sanatorium with the same cut on her arm. Carly refuses to participate in another simulation and leaves Therapol.
Carly visits Martin and tells him about her experience. He shows her his theories about demonic possession, showing Carly a sketch of the creature she saw in the simulation. Martin claims to have suffered similar nightmares that Carly suffers from and explains how the demon manipulates its target through their family and friends. He also tells Carly of his theory that the Vatican is funding special black ops groups consisting of priests. The Vatican buys companies like Therapol to detect genuinely possessed people who seemingly suffer from medical conditions before the squad eliminates the demon by bringing it to its entry point from hell. In the case of the supposed demon taking over Angela, this is the sanatorium. A bewildered Carly refuses to believe in this theory and returns home. Martin begins to suspect the demon has latched onto Carly.
That night, a concerned Sam pays Carly a visit and Carly sends her away. Sam returns later into the night this time with a bird mask and telling Carly "to look for me in the woods". Sam puts on the bird mask and suddenly contorts her body, chasing Carly around the house. Carly barricades herself in her bedroom where she is attacked by the demon. Carly wakes up, the events are seemingly a dream and she rushes to Sam's house. It is revealed that Daniel and Michael are watching her and that Martin's theory is correct: they are priests and plan to eliminate the demon at the sanatorium. The demon has become obsessed with Carly while trapped in Angela's comatose body and wants to possess her to commit the same crimes it made Angela do. Carly finds Sam missing from her house and recruits Martin to help rescue her. They travel to the woods and retrieve a traumatized Sam who claims a group of men took Angela into the nearby sanatorium. They leave Sam in Martin's car and head out to find Angela.
At the sanatorium, they find the black ops team has been massacred and stumble upon a dying Daniel. Daniel explains how the demon has entered Michael who killed the squad and gives Carly a holy lance that will kill the demon. In the sanatorium, Carly enters the simulation to rescue Angela. She finds Angela who is finally free of the demon and she makes amends with her daughter before dying peacefully. Carly escapes the simulation and looks for Martin who has gone missing. She stumbles across his car which is now in flames as well as Sam's burnt corpse. Carly finds Martin being tortured by Michael who pursues Carly. Carly stabs Michael with the lance, killing him and accidentally sending the demon into herself. Carly wrestles with the possession before stabbing herself with the lance, killing the demon.
Sometime later, Carly awakens in a hospital and makes amends with Martin. She leaves flowers at Angela's grave.
Production[]
The film was shot in mid-2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, in British Columbia, Canada.[3][4]
Release[]
IFC Midnight bought rights to the film in the United States, where it was released in theaters on August 20, 2021, a week before being made available on video on demand.[5][6] In its opening weekend, the film made $36,500 in 85 theaters.[7]
Reception[]
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 15% based on 80 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Neill Blomkamp's return to low-budget, high-concept filmmaking bungles some interesting ideas, adding up to another Demonic waste of the writer-director's once-promising talent."[8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[9]
References[]
- ^ "Demonic (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ "'Demonic' Trailer Bends the Mind in Neill Blomkamp's Sci-Fi Horror Movie". Movieweb. July 22, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (December 8, 2020). "'District 9' Director Neill Blomkamp Has Made An Under-The-Radar Supernatural Horror Movie During The Pandemic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production - Blomkamp, Neill Horror Project". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on March 27, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
- ^ Hipes, Patrick (March 31, 2021). "Neill Blomkamp's Under-The-Radar Horror Thriller 'Demonic' Gets U.S. Deal With IFC Midnight". Deadline. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
- ^ Collis, Clark (April 28, 2021). "First look at Neill Blomkamp's supernatural horror film Demonic". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
- ^ Goldsmith, Jill (August 22, 2021). "Sean Penn's 'Flag Day' Fails To Fly As Older Arthouse Crowd Shuns Cinemas – Specialty Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
- ^ "Demonic (2021)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
- ^ "Demonic Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
External links[]
- 2021 films
- English-language films
- 2021 science fiction horror films
- Canadian films
- Canadian supernatural horror films
- Films directed by Neill Blomkamp
- Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
- Films shot in British Columbia