What’s better than one possessed child? According to Universal Pictures’ official trailer for The Exorcist: Believer, two possessed children are better than one!
Billed as a sequel to the 1973 film about a 12-year-old girl who is possessed by a demonic entity that only two priests can save her from, The Exorcist: Believer sees this force return and tried to claim two souls. This comes after two young girls disappear for 3 days with no recollection of what happened. And as their parents struggle to understand what is going on, this demonic force makes itself more apparent within the young girls. From the makeup to the special effects, the vibes from the OG movie are in this one.
What makes this sequel/soft reboot different is that Ellen Burstyn will be making a return for the sequel. In the OG movie, she played the young mother of Regan aka the possessed child. And for a Hollywood that forgets that women age, it’s refreshing to see Burstyn return to our screens. It’s even more refreshing the fact that this movie is more diverse and focuses on two young women in a day and age where things are different to the point where I can’t help but wonder how technology is going to play into this.
Besides all that, the trailer is inherently scary, with the very real fear of your children disappearing and then not being able to protect them from a force you’ve never experienced before being at the center of it. There’s also going to be the added element of two sets of parents who will do anything to protect their child to the point where I can’t help but think what if one was forced to pick their child over the other? That will lead to disaster, pain, and some scary moments that will elevate this sequel and focus on sacrifice and what we’re willing to do for the people we love while also having empathy.
For me, the human element and the risks that we are willing to take when our loved ones are possessed by evil demonic entities make The Exorcist: Believer 10 times scarier than anything I’ve seen in a while.
Watch the official trailer for The Exorcist: Believer below:
The Exorcist: Believer hits theaters October 2023.
What do you think of this trailer? Let us know in the comments below!
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, The Exorcist: Believer being covered here wouldn’t exist.
