"My Best Friend's Exorcism" -- Movie Review

 

This week, I streamed Amazon Studios’ new horror-comedy, “My Best Friend’s Exorcism”, now available on Prime Video.

Synopsis

When a teenager suspects her best friend is possessed, will she be able to save her with an exorcism?

Story

In the late 1980’s, teenagers Abby and Gretchen are best friends.  One of the many things they have in common is that they both think the religious teachings at their strict Catholic high school are ridiculous.  When they join some friends to spend a weekend in a cabin by the lake, things do not quite go as expected.  One night, the two go exploring in a deserted cabin; when they get spooked, Abby makes a run for it, with Gretchen close behind – until she isn’t.  Once their friends find Abby in the woods, they all go searching for Gretchen – but when they find her, Abby is immediately suspicious. 

Once they return to school, that’s when things get really weird.  Not only is Gretchen behaving strangely, but also, other odd things start occurring around them as well.  Is Gretchen trying to steal the boyfriend from one of the other girls?  After Margaret samples a special “diet” drink, she gets sick and is no longer able to eat.  Then, when Glee can’t find her EpiPen after coming into contact with some nuts, she also falls ill and comes close to dying.  By now, Abby becomes convinced that Gretchen is behind all of this; once she shares this with her other friends, they ostracize her. 

Abby decides to consult with someone connected to her school; he convinces her that all of the signs point to Gretchen being possessed by Satan.  The only thing that can resolve the problem is an exorcism.  Unfortunately, this is easier said than done -- Abby cannot go to a priest because she has become something of an outcast at her school.  Since the person recommending the exorcism has in fact witnessed one before, he suggests that he perform the ceremony.  However, once the exorcism begins, things take an unexpected turn and he is unable to complete the process.  Can Abby alone save her friend?

Review

Not to be diplomatic, but perhaps the best way to summarize a review of “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” is to fall back on an old quote (often attributed, perhaps spuriously, to Abraham Lincoln):  “People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.”  The movie is based on the Quirk Books novel by Grady Hendrix, so it’s clearly geared towards the young adult audience; that said, for folks old enough to remember the film “The Exorcist”, you will be glad to know that there is the obligatory pea-soup-vomit scene included in “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” (not to mention a hat-tip to “Alien” when a serpent-like creature emerges from one of the characters). 

While the horror aspect of this movie is immediately apparent, its comedic elements are less so; essentially, it’s supposed to be funny because the characters are so incredibly goofy – that is to say, they aren’t quite smart enough to know how silly they are.  As a result, we, the audience, can feel comfortable looking down upon them and laugh at them in a condescending fashion.  None of them are trying to be humorous because that would imply some degree of cleverness on their part; they can be thankful that not a single one of them is encumbered by such sagacity.  If one of them surprisingly does something remotely intelligent, just chalk it up to “the devil made me do it” (another quote, this one by the late comedian Flip Wilson, who himself was indeed quite clever). 

If you’re going to recommend this to either a teen or “tween”, have them watch (or better yet, read) “The Exorcist” first; otherwise, they might think that “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” inspired “The Exorcist” rather than the reverse.  Having said that, it might be better to not recommend this motion picture to them in the first place; from a cultural nutrition standpoint, it’s empty calories.  This film occasionally seems to be deriding organized religion (Catholicism in particular) until that same religion apparently comes to the rescue to save the day after all.  Don’t be misled – these characters are devout only to their own narcissism.