Out gay director and Philly native Lee Daniels’ latest drama, “The Deliverance,” available Aug. 30 on Netflix, is a compelling thriller about demonic possession. The film opens with quotes about forgiveness and deliverance, but it really is about belief. However, Ebony (Andra Day) just cannot believe all that happens to her and her family. The film is inspired by true events experienced by Latoya Ammons in Gary, Indiana starting in 2011.
Ebony has just moved to a new house in Pittsburgh — her third home in a year — with her three kids, Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins), Shante (Demi Singleton), and Nate (Caleb McLaughlin) as well as her feisty mother Alberta (Glenn Close), who is battling cancer. The house is not in great shape, and neither is Ebony. Her past includes incarceration and addiction issues as well as abuse. Now broke, and with an estranged husband who wants custody of their kids, she is barely managing. And while the flies swarming near the basement door are annoying, so too is Alberta’s criticism about how Ebony raises her children. Adding to her troubles are the surprise visits from Cynthia (Mo’Nique), from the Department of Child Services, to check on the welfare of her kids.
The beleaguered Ebony is a tough cookie, and watching her in Mama Bear mode, handling a young man who bullies Nate is gratifying. But seeing her fight verbally and physically with both her mother and her kids is distressing. Ebony does love her family fiercely; one of the few nice moments has everyone watching “Valley of the Dolls” with all the women repeating the dialogue.
“The Deliverance” starts to get strange when the young Andre goes into a trance. He starts talking to “Trey” who, it is later revealed, is the spirit of a boy who died in the house years ago. What is more, Cynthia notices bruises on Shante’s arm but there is no explanation or memory of how they got there. And the sensitive Nate, too, acts uncharacteristically — as when he tries to drown Andre in the bathtub. A sequence later in the film has all three kids in school behaving in ways that are peculiar and disturbing. (One involves feces). When they receive expensive medical tests, Ebony is told “nothing is wrong” with her kids, but she vehemently disagrees.
The pressures Ebony faces may test her resilience as she endures one horrific emotional setback after another. In addition to her financial problems, and her kids’ odd behavior, Ebony feels Alberta does not support her. But Ebony is often her own worst enemy. It is hard to watch her argue with everyone she encounters. She insults and belittles an animal control employee in one scene, and is rude to a doctor in another. While she is not shown in the best light, her interactions do feel real, even if Daniels is magnifying the indignity. Surprisingly, the film barely touches on the idea of Ebony having mental illness, especially since others, such as Cynthia, or a nurse (Cynthia Dallas) believe Ebony may be delusional, lying and/or behaving erratically.
Ebony is also initially wary of Rev. Bernice Jones (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), an apostle who approaches her with information about demonic possession. Because Bernice takes Ebony’s uncanny situation seriously, she eventually agrees to work with this woman who claims she can help fight the entity that is possessing Andre and influencing Shante and Nate.
Daniels presents all the supernatural elements with surprising restraint, never letting the ghosts overwhelm the story. “The Deliverance” features sequences of characters levitating, contorting their bodies, and speaking in tongues that illustrate how the possession is manifesting itself in and manipulating its hosts. Even an episode where Cynthia is shocked to witness a hospitalized Dre break free from his bed restraints and literally climb the walls is effective.
The horror scenes are more fascinating than bone-chilling, even as Daniels leans into the religiosity of a character experiencing stigmata, or a cross Alberta hung on the wall catching fire. The origin of the demon is revealed (in a flashback), and the film does explain what happened in real life to the house and its inhabitants, answering the most likely questions.
One strength of “The Deliverance” is that it does not judge its characters but presents them in ways that mostly engender sympathy. Andra Day nobly portrays Ebony, who suffers throughout the film as she struggles to survive her multiple ordeals. Daniels lets Day give a big, showy performance and the singer/actress is forceful as she bemoans the unexplained banging in her home, or staggers around an empty room after a party, looking for a drink. Ebony does not have too many quiet moments, but when she does, Day exudes inner strength and outer despair. She also gets to perform a song for the film.
In support, Glenn Close chews the scenery at Alberta. Bewigged, heavily made up, and wearing clothes that have more holes than fabric, she comes off as trashy and campy especially in a scene where she runs out of the house bald and in hot pants, wielding a baseball bat. Close may be comic relief, but Mo’Nique provides valuable support as the non-nonsense Cynthia. Alas, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor feels underused as Bernice.
“The Deliverance” is convincing in its depiction of demonic possession. Daniels’ film may not sway non-believers, but it is an absorbing story, nonetheless.
