Demonic

Starring: Carly Pope, Chris William Martin, Michael J. Rogers, Nathalie Boltt, Terry Chen, Kandyse McClure
Directed by: Neill Blomkamp
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Horror, Science Fiction
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A woman (Carly Pope) is asked to try an experimental new technology where she can visit her comatose mother's brain to find out why she committed an awful crime.

Review:

Tim: Look, we all made some bad mistakes during the Covid pandemic. I drank a bit too regularly at the beginning, played too many video games, and didn't eat healthy enough. Others made poor purchase decisions. I'm trying to clarify we all made mistakes. I think Demonic was Neill Blomkamp's big pandemic mistake. This is one of the worst movies I've seen in years. It's shockingly bad. It seems like Blomkamp is better than this, so I'm at a bit of a loss to explain how terrible this movie turned out. I think the best way to look at it is a devastating "pandemic mistake" and try to move on.

I have to mention first that Blomkamp's career has been a consistent move downward. He burst onto the scene with the stunning District 9, a movie I love. It's a great film, unforgettable, brilliantly made. Elysium was good, but heavily flawed. Chappie was awful- I couldn't believe how much I disliked that movie. The viewing experience was agonizing. And, that was all prelude to Demonic, a outright terrible movie that never should have been made. This is the kind of film that has so few redeeming qualities, it ends up feeling like a waste of your life. What is Blomkamp doing? Each film he makes it significantly worse than the preceding one.

I'm probably putting off talking about this film because it's a waste of breath. I guess the central idea is okay? I'm sure Blomkamp felt like it was wholly original when he wrote it. It just feels like cobbled together from multiple similar movies. The story offers nothing new, but it's perfectly fine. It doesn't account for the awfulness of the movie.

The cast definitely do not help, nor does Blomkamp's utilization of them. Carly Pope could be a solid actress, but I hated her performance here. It's forced, inauthentic, effortful. It never feels real, not for a second. She delivers one of the worst leading actress performances I have seen in years. I hated her character, never felt any emotional connection with her, and just cringed at her flailing attempts to bring this character to life. I have zero idea how Blomkamp watched anything Pope did and thought, "Got it." She desperately needed to be fired and an actual actress brought in. Chris William Martin didn't do much better. I actually looked him up, because I wondered, "Has this guy ever acted before?" His resume is far less than impressive. He's a nothing television actor who was in over his head from the beginning here. Sorry, man, I know that was harsh. Watching he and Pope fumble over lines and forcing dialogue stripped away my outer layer of kindness. Michael J. Rogers was okay, which is high praise for this film. He did a few nice things, but at least 50% of his performance was weak. Terry Chen does escape slightly unscathed. I think he's a good actor and he did the best with his stilted, ridiculous dialogue. Kandyse McClure was also unbelievably terrible. Her line delivery felt forced. She felt uncomfortable in front of the camera. Being forced to watch Pope and McClure pretend they were friends was agonizing. I honestly think I could have played McClure's role better than she did. She was terrible. This just leaves me questioning so much. Were these the only actors Blomkamp could find during the pandemic? Was he really okay with their performances? Did he just lose his mind? The cast ruins this film, and Blomkamp allowed their bad performances to stand and actively contributes to their badness with his dumb script.

The visual effects felt cheap and rushed. Much of the film takes place in this virtual reality/dreamworld. I guess the depiction was okay, but it mostly involves filming actual scenes and then making them look considerably worse. Some of the rendering of Pope's character was cool- I liked how it would almost flash like you'd see her head looking backwards from her body for a moment. The rest of it becomes tiresome quickly. There's maybe a few moments where the rendering of the world seems cool, but ultimately, it doesn't add much to the film. I thought the depiction of the demon was okay. I kind of liked the design, with the long beak thing. However, none of this felt scary. I didn't for one minute feel any tension, intensity, nervousness. I didn't care about the characters, the story was weak, and the whole thing felt incredibly stupid. There were no thrills. This is a horror movie with no horror.

Alright, I've already said too much. I hated this film. I'll give Blomkamp a tiny amount of credit for some of the story elements and the visuals, but the cast was just plain despicable. I seriously worry that Blomkamp has lost whatever he might have had. That, or he just got lucky with District 9. He still could get worse from here, but not by much. I have to believe he'll turn this around and go the other direction. That's small consolation, but let's all hope Demonic is rock bottom for this once-promising director.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 3.5



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