Spoiler Free Review
Exorcism movies are a dime in a dozen. They’re usually either a hit or a miss. So when someone recommended the film to me I was hesitant, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. Anyone who has been on social media for a significant amount of time knows how evil it can be. The film adds a modernized twist to the possession story and asks the question what would happen if an actual demon from hell decided to use social media as its platform for evil.
The film centers on two friends, Max and Drew, who run a webcast together. The webcast claims that every week they perform real life exorcisms, but the truth is that they work out of a soundstage and those aren’t real people who are possessed. They’re just actors who signed a non-disclosure agreement. After every live stream “Father” Max thanks the audience for their prayers, but both Max and Drew are upset that they can’t pass the half a million views mark. Although selling the fake “blessed by the Vatican” cloths bring in some pretty good stacks of dough, but even then Max isn’t happy. He wants to reach that coveted verified status of over a million views during his live stream.
So Max decides what will bring in views is if his friend Dante will be his possession victim of the week. Dante happens to be a drag queen and he’s hoping that’ll give him his coveted million viewers. When Dante fails to make it to the set, Drew’s fiancée takes the role at last minute. As the cameras start to roll, the crew realizes that their fake exorcism has become horribly real. As the clock ticks down, the bodies begin to start piling, they have to figure out how to expel the demon before its too late, but hey at least now millions of people are watching. The demon’s motivations aren’t clear until the very end of the film.
Kyle Gallner, and Ryan Guzman give great performances. You can tell that they’ve been friends for a while, but the pressure from their webcast are coming between them. Then there’s Alix Angelis. The film simply just wouldn’t work without her in it. She gave a phenomenal physical performance with her eerie expressions and delighted provoking as the demon manipulating its way through the webcast.
My only major complaint was when the film went from practical effects into CGI. The CGI felt dated, but it’s understandable since they were at a budget. It was like a mix of Playstation 2 and 3 CGI. It didn’t ruin the film by any means, but it was a distraction. If the film had a somewhat bigger budget that it could have had a perfect score from me.
With that being said, ‘The Cleansing Hour’ is one of the most original films in recent years. Actually I haven’t been entertained by a possession film in many years. The acting was surprisingly good, the pacing was perfect, really well executed, and a visual delight minus the CGI of course. Not only is the film creative, but also quite humorous at times. The film uses a possession story and uses the embodiment of evil to highlight how dangerous social media can be. An alternate title for the film could have been ‘So You Want to become an Influencer’. I like how director Damien LeVeck used the story to focus on hypocrisy, guilt, and the abuse of power. Not to mention providing one of the best endings to a horror film in quite some time. It’s a well made film that needs to be seen. Definitely give it a watch.
4.5 out of 5 Pazuzus
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