Sam Worthington, David Hyde Pierce, Adam Goldberg and Ryan Simpkins co-star in the tale of demonic possession, directed by Joshua John Miller, whose late father Jason Miller played Damien Karras in ‘The Exorcist.’

Following the disastrous debut of David Gordon Green’s 2023 The Exorcist: Believer, the first installment in an intended trilogy of sequels, Universal announced a new direction for the franchise, to be helmed by horror specialist Mike Flanagan. Notably, there’s no indication that the next chapter will attempt a remake of The Exorcist. After all, William Friedkin’s 1973 original, adapted by William Peter Blatty from his novel, stands as one of the most iconic horror films ever made; it won two Academy Awards out of ten nominations and essentially reinvented the genre.

Given that it’s intended in part as a tribute to his father, naturally the film required a character named “Miller.” Attempting to make a comeback after a descent into drug and alcohol addiction almost destroys his acting career, Tony Miller (Russell Crowe) lands a role in The Georgetown Project, clearly a remake of The Exorcist — although the 1973 film is never mentioned by name.

Playing Catholic priest Father Arlington in the film-within-the-film, Tony is the ostensible star but he experiences debilitating insecurity from the first day of shooting. Reluctantly tasked with investigating an apparent case of demonic possession that has ensnared a young woman (Chloe Bailey) in the clutches of a relentless demon, Arlington struggles to confront the beast, even as Miller searches for appropriate reference points to anchor his character.

Gentle guidance comes from on-set consulting cleric Father Conor (David Hyde Pierce), who helps Tony initially find his footing, although he’s constantly undermined by Peter’s insidious attempts to coax him toward a more authentic performance that mines his abundant private pain.

Relying primarily on low-light locations for the sets of the production stage and Tony’s apartment, the film features few exteriors, contributing to a sense of entrapment and dread for both the characters and the audience. In this oppressive setting, Tony’s self-doubts gradually take over, unsettling both his performance and his mental health.

Director Miller and co-writer M.A. Fortin effectively deployed a similarly meta approach with their script for 2015’s entertainingly offbeat horror-comedy The Final Girls, while the influence of producer and collaborator Kevin Williamson, creator of the Scream franchise, is also evident in the film’s self-regarding perspective.

The filmmakers’ slow-burn approach to building tension proves intriguing at first, as Tony attempts to come to grips with Arlington’s reluctance to become involved with the victim and her mother. Like many a demonic thriller though, the actual mechanism of Tony’s possession remains somewhat vague, perhaps attributable to an earlier tragedy on the production that left some malevolent force lingering on the set awaiting a new victim.

Tony also provides some clues to his complicated emotional history that may point to his susceptibility to evil, revealing his troubled memories about serving as an altar boy, as well as his unbearable guilt from effectively abandoning Lee and her mother after the latter developed cancer.