7 very serious thoughts about Lee Daniels’ very unserious film ‘The Deliverance’

OPINION: “The Deliverance” is a movie that I wonder if even Lee Daniels will ever watch again.

Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

There’s a certain joy that comes with being known as a person who not only watches but enjoys any and all manner of Black cinema. I’m a person whose algorithm-suggested movies (regardless of platform) typically star people for whom IMDb is more likely to be a street name or song title than a place to warehouse film credits. I’m not saying that I don’t watch high-brow films — shouts out to Tyler Perry — but I also enjoy the kind of movies that pair well with low-vibrational plates. 

With that said, it took me quite a while to finish watching Lee Daniels’ latest offering, “The Deliverance,” playing now on Netflix. It’s a movie about the Jackson family in Pittsburgh, Pa., who move into a haunted house. Andra Day plays Ebony Jackson, a mean alcoholic of a mother, whose kids’ souls are overtaken by demons, requiring Ebony to fight her own internal demons to save her family. 

Despite my leanings as a non-horror film chap, people who similarly indulge in Blackness and shenanigans — and especially Black shenanigans — have continued to suggest to me to watch the movie. So I finally did and baaaaaaaby … I have all of the thoughts, prayers (but, of course) and concerns. I’d like to share them with you. Can I kick it? 

And yes, I realize this movie is “based on a true story.” I would bet money that the people whose life story inspired this film asked “Whose mans is this?” several times while watching it, assuming they did because this movie is unserious. 

There will be spoilers. 

1. This movie is not a horror film. It is a comedy masquerading as a horror movie. 

Listen, I’ve watched truly scary movies before. “The Deliverance” ain’t that. In fact, I straight up busted out laughing SEVERAL times while watching this film. The quotables alone (one of which I couldn’t print here without several layers of approval) made me laugh. Straight up, I kept WAITING for a member of the Wayans family to make a surprise appearance. While this movie is definitely not for kids, it is also not a scary movie that you need to watch with all of the lights on. 

2. Andra Day is both the best and worst actor in this movie. 

There were parts of this movie where I felt like she was going to get an Oscar nod; her Philly accent alone had me looking up her biography because I just knew she was actually from California (she is). And the way she ran up on the corner boys who messed with her kid?? Stellar. But then there’s the rest of the film where, ya know, the material is gon’ material. And I suppose she did the best she could. Horror films tend to be more about the payoff than the journey, but parts of this journey were struggle-icious. She did give her all in the “deliverance” scenes, and so between laughs, I was like “Go Andra Go!” I think that counts for something.

3. Why is Glenn Close even in this movie? 

So, in real life, the Ammons family for whom this film is based are a Black family from Gary, Indiana. Lee Daniels decided to make Ebony Jackson’s mother, Alberta (Glenn Close) a white woman who only dates Black men and I suppose … keeps it real? Daniels’ is very proud of himself for this by the way. He also went so far as to call the Alberta character the “part of the fabric of the community.” Girl, I guess. But character aside, like, why on earth was she even here? I know actors love a challenge but, errum, I don’t see how she saw the script and was like, “That’s the role I’ve been waiting for.” Maybe that paycheck was undeniable. Shouts out to Andra Day and Glenn Close, though; their commitment is vital to this film’s success. Same with Aunjanue Ellis, who is also in this film.

You know what …

4. “The Deliverance” got me thinking about the worst films I’ve seen with the most talent. 

This film stars Andra Day, Mo’Nique, Omar Epps, Aunjanue Ellis, Glenn Close, and Caleb McLaughlin. I’m not saying this should have been an Academy Award-winning film considering everybody in it, but, I don’t know, I just felt like it had … more to give than it gave. When the movie was over I felt more like, “Well that took a turn” than “I can’t wait to watch that again.” For the record, I will never watch this movie again. I don’t know what the right answer to that question is by the way, the first worst-movie-but-loaded-with-talent film I can think of is “Kingdom Come” but maybe this is one of those situations where I’m the problem because my talent meter is broken because of the films I watch. 

Film

5. Rev. Bernice James (Aunjanue Ellis) — the one who does the deliverances —  is bad at her job. 

Rev. James follows Ebony and her kids around trying to determine if they need Jesus. As it turns out, they do and in a sit-down convo with Ebony, she offers her services. She mentions this one time when she was trying to do some deliverance work on the family in the house Ebony lives in and it didn’t work; the demon presence was too strong. Well, this woman tracked down Ebony to get another crack at it and failed AGAIN. That house beat her twice. I’m sure she’s a fine reverend. In one scene, we see her getting her congregation up in a tizzy. We also see her get choked out by an invisible spirit and dragged across the floor. House: 2, Rev. James: 0. I kind of tuned out so maybe she was killed (I am not about to go back and find out), but she definitely failed and left Ebony to finish the job. 

6. There was a better title for this movie that would have done a better job at expectation-setting: “Ebony Got Her Kids Back.” 

Despite this being a kinda-sorta based on a real thing movie, it really is a fantasy. The story has inspiration, but there is a significant distance between the real-life happenings and this. At one point in this film, Ebony loses her kids to the system. Ebony isn’t the best mother and if not for the fact that her kids’ father is deployed in Iraq or somewhere, I’m sure they’d be with him because the amount of stuff happening around Ebony is enough to make ANYBODY take those kids away. Her own daughter is worried that she’s going to go back to jail. 

Anywho, when the movie ends, and after Ebony has gotten the demon out of her youngest son (go Ebony!) she is in the kitchen with Mo’Nique, who plays the woman assigned by the state agency to look over their family for the sake of the kids. Somehow, Ebony thinks she is going to get her kids back. I have NO earthly idea why she’d think that’s a real thing. I would imagine those kids would be sent anywhere else but to stay with her. But alas, once the movie ends, there is a sentence right there on my screen that says, “Ebony got her kids back.” Bruh. For one, ain’t no way. For two, possessed kids notwithstanding, she seems like she needs some time to work on herself. 

Either way, when that sentence popped up on my screen, I thought to myself that “Ebony Got Her Kids Back” would have been a better title for the movie. It certainly would have put me in the mold of shenanigans. I don’t know, watch the movie and tell me what you think. I think I’m right. 

7. I have no idea if you should watch this movie or not. 

There are movies I’ve suggested people watch because the shenanigans are at an all-time level. This ain’t that. I have no desire to watch this movie again. At the same time, I understand why my community kept suggesting I watch it. It’s one of those films that you just want other people to see so you can talk about how ridiculous it is. It is neither the worst nor most ridiculous movie I’ve ever seen — a certain you-know-who has cornered the market on that genre — but it’s like an hour and a half and isn’t scary and you get to see Glenn Close play a role that doesn’t make any sense if you actually know who she is. Plus, she utters a two-word phrase that I’m fairly certain is the only time in her life she has ever said those words and that’s important. So I don’t know, I can’t call this one. Like, if you have nothing else to do, fire it up. If you have other things to do, maybe fire it up when you’re done with those things. 

Or you can be like me, and do it all for the culture, which I think is as good a reason as any. 

Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).