A Double Possession: The Exorcist: Believer

The Exorcist: Believer (2023) is a supernatural horror film directed by David Gordon Green, who co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Sattler from a story by Scott Teems, Danny McBride and Green. It is the sixth film in the Exorcist franchise and a legacy sequel to The Exorcist (1973) that ignores the four films in between. Leslie Odom Jr. plays a widowed photographer whose daughter and her best friend are possessed after vanishing in the woods. Ellen Burstyn returns as Chris MacNeil, and Linda Blair makes a cameo as Regan. Universal and Peacock paid $400 million for the rights in order to launch a new trilogy. The film opened at No. 1 and grossed $137 million on a $30 million budget. But reviews were negative, and the trilogy was scrapped in favor of a reboot from Mike Flanagan.

At a glance

Release date	October 6, 2023 (US)
Director	David Gordon Green
Writers	Screenplay by Peter Sattler and David Gordon Green; story by Scott Teems, Danny McBride and David Gordon Green
Based on	Characters created by William Peter Blatty
Starring	Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Olivia O’Neill, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Ann Dowd, Ellen Burstyn
Runtime	111 minutes
Rating	R (US), for some violent content, disturbing images, language and sexual references
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$137 million
Franchise	Exorcist: direct sequel to The Exorcist (1973), ignoring the films between them

Plot summary

On their honeymoon in Haiti, photographer Victor Fielding and his pregnant wife Sorenne are caught in an earthquake, and paramedics tell Victor he must choose between his wife and their child. Thirteen years later, Victor (Leslie Odom Jr.) has lost his faith and is raising his daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) alone in Georgia. Angela and her best friend Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) slip into the woods to hold a séance to contact Angela’s mother. They vanish for three days and are found in a barn, traumatized and with burns on their feet.

Both girls deteriorate quickly. Victor’s neighbor Ann (Ann Dowd), a nurse who once trained as a nun, becomes convinced Angela is possessed. She gives him the memoir of Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), whose daughter Regan was possessed fifty years earlier. Chris has spent her life studying exorcism across cultures and is estranged from Regan. She agrees to help, but Katherine stabs her in both eyes with a cross.

Spoiler section: the ending

A Catholic priest, a Baptist pastor, a Pentecostal preacher and a rootwork healer gather for an ecumenical exorcism. The demon reveals that Victor actually chose Sorenne in Haiti, but she died anyway. It demands the parents choose which girl lives. Father Maddox returns to read the Roman Ritual and is killed when the demon snaps his neck. Katherine’s father, Tony, shouts that he chooses Katherine. But the chosen one dies: the demon drags Katherine to Hell, and Angela revives. In the hospital, Chris is reunited with Regan (Linda Blair), who forgives her.

Production and behind the scenes

Morgan Creek announced a new Exorcist film in August 2020. In December it was confirmed as a sequel to the original, with Green, fresh from his Halloween films, in talks to direct. Jason Blum produced alongside David and James G. Robinson. In July 2021, Universal and Peacock acquired the rights for $400 million with plans for a trilogy. Green said Blair had read the script but “was not interested in a significant role.” She served as an on-set advisor because the film put young actors in “dangerous places.” Her cameo was shot in secret and was not in the script. Green said the crew’s “dropped jaws” greeted her, and that it was the first time she and Burstyn had communicated in years.

Because of Burstyn’s age and the risks of COVID-19, her scenes were completed early. By February 2022 she said she had finished. Principal photography began in November 2022 in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, on a $30 million budget. Production paused early for the holidays after Odom had an “unspecified health issue,” and filming wrapped in early March 2023. Helen Leahey was the “primary source” for the demon’s voice, which was built up with additional voice work and audio processing.

Release and reception

Universal moved the release up a week, from October 13 to October 6, 2023, to avoid Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. It opened at No. 1 with $26.5 million, the franchise’s best opening, but that was seen as disappointing against mid-$30 million projections and the $400 million rights deal. It grossed $65.5 million in the US and Canada and $137 million worldwide, then went to Peacock on December 1.

It holds 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus credits it for “trying to take the franchise back to its terrifying roots” but faults its “lack of new ideas – and scares.” Metacritic gave it 39, and CinemaScore audiences gave it a “C,” the same grade as The Exorcist III and Exorcist: The Beginning. Owen Gleiberman of Variety said it felt “about as dangerous as a crucifix dipped in a bottle of designer water.” David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter called it “hella disappointing.”

Legacy and influence

The planned trilogy collapsed. The first sequel, The Exorcist: Deceiver, had been dated for April 18, 2025. Green said later that the second film would have been set in Europe and centered on Dowd’s Nurse Ann. After the poor reception, Green stepped down from Deceiver in January 2024, and the film was pulled from the schedule. In May 2024, Mike Flanagan was confirmed to write, direct and produce a reboot, reported under the title The Exorcist: Martyrs. It moved from March 13, 2026, to March 12, 2027, after Flanagan said production would wait until he finished his Carrie miniseries. Believer remains the only film of its planned trilogy. It also brought Burstyn back to the role that began the series. For the earlier sequel, see Exorcist II: The Heretic.

Trivia

Olivia O’Neill made her film debut as Katherine.
Morgan Creek had earlier said it would “never attempt to remake The Exorcist.”
Characters from the film appeared in Universal’s 2025 haunted-house attraction Universal Horror Unleashed.
It made $2.9 million from Thursday previews and $11 million in its second weekend, finishing second to the Eras Tour film.
Its PostTrak positive score was 61%.