Possession films exist in a weird cultural landscape. On one hand, Western culture grew at the heart of Christianity, so it makes sense that we keep exploring demons as a source of horror. The idea of Hell is so engraved in our minds that even people who don’t identify as Christians might feel afraid watching a devoted priest perform an exorcism on screen. However, movies focused on demonic possession frequently feel like advertising, as if horror was a vehicle to spread the word that we should have faith in religion. More often than not, we can ignore the message if we’d like and just enjoy a scary movie. Prey for the Devil, however, seems to have been developed as deliberate propaganda.

Prey for the Devil takes place at a school of exorcism in Boston, funded by the Catholic Church. There, young priests learn how to save souls and fight demons, a knowledge they can frequently practice with the patients the Church keeps in the institution's basement. That’s because every person supposedly suffering from demonic possession gets isolated and followed closely by a medical team, with priests ready to act when science is no longer effective in treating illness. It’s an exciting concept. Or it could be if Prey for the Devil didn’t take itself so seriously. For example, the movie’s first scene tries to sell its wacky idea as something based on the real world. And that includes a wall of text right at the beginning explaining the dire state of a world where demonic possession has become an epidemic, and the Holy Church must act for the sake of humankind.

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According to tradition, only male priests can learn how to perform an exorcism, so the classrooms are mostly occupied by men. Then comes the movie protagonist, Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers), a rebellious nun determined to challenge a conservative structure and learn to perform exorcisms herself. On the surface, Prey for the Devil is a story about women's empowerment inside a patriarchal structure. However, that’s nothing but a façade, as the movie actually reinforces how the Church’s millenary teachings are the most effective tool to vanquish evil.

prey for the devil Jacqueline Byers

Image via Lionsgate

Prey for the Devil tries to follow PR-approved guidelines to show how religion has adapted to modern times. That’s why Sister Ann and other religious people are often seen in casual clothes. The main characters also have a past of partying and hanging out with the wrong people to show they are as sinful as everyone else. Finally, the three main characters of Prey for the Devil are a woman, a Latino man (Christian Navarro), and a Black man (Colin Salmon), as if the movie was trying to complete a checklist of political correctness. After all, if the Church is so diverse and so accepting of differences, that would mean this powerful institution has evolved past its historical errors. That would be all fine if Prey for the Devil didn’t constantly refer to said past, revealing the hypocrisy of its message instead.

Foremost, rather than ignoring the Holy Church’s genocidal history, Prey for the Devil turns the Inquisition into a plot point. However, instead of recognizing the true horrors of torturing and killing people in the name of God as something to be ashamed of, the movie wants to sell the idea that it was a necessary evil. It’s not a coincidence that an instrument used for executions many centuries ago becomes the main weapon to defeat Prey for the Devil's antagonist. That alone would be enough to raise some eyebrows, but Prey for the Devil is filled with twisted moral messages.

A little girl bloodied and bruised carrying a rosary in 'Prey for the Devil.'

For instance, when Sister Ann tries to break the pattern and ignore the exorcism playbook, she actually harms the person she is trying to save, proving that tradition is better than innovation. Even worse is that Prey for the Devil makes an uncomfortable comparison between demonic possession and mental health issues, suggesting the latter is proof of inner evil. There’s also the case of a woman who’s consumed by the trauma of having aborted a child after being raped. That’s right, the choice to get rid of the fetus is what threatens her integrity, not the unspeakable violence she suffered. And when the movie exposes its premise that people who carry shame and guilt invite demons on purpose because they want to be punished, it feels a lot like victim-shaming.

There's nothing particularly wrong with Prey for the Devil on a technical side. The whole cast does what it can to hold the movie together, with Byers and Salmon shining particularly bright. The special effects team also had fun conjuring some good creatures that pay homage to classic exorcism movies. So, even though Prey for the Devil doesn't do anything new with the genre and only copies the same scares we’ve seen dozens of times before, it might offer enough to please horror fans who really like the theme. That is, if they can get past all the propaganda bits that drag the movie down.

prey for the devil

Image via Lionsgate

On the surface, Prey for the Devil tries to appeal to modern audiences by featuring a female protagonist and a diverse cast. And while these are usually victories to be celebrated, here they are actually a distraction. That’s because, at every turn, Prey for the Devil undermines how the battle against evil justifies any means. Even dark periods of history, such as the Inquisition, were worthy of keeping the souls of the faithful safe. It’s no surprise that the religious language used in Prey for the Devil is particularly warlike, with priests getting weapons to fight an unbeatable enemy. And wars always have casualties, including a woman's rights over her body and mental health patients accused of being possessed. But hey, what matters is that we preserve tradition and don’t change things too much, lest the Devil wins.

Rating: D

Prey for the Devil comes to theaters on October 28. Check out the movie’s trailer below: