The Exorcist: Believer
Universal Pictures | Release Date: October 6, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 54 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
33
Negative:
14
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 5, 2023
Nearly 50 years after William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” elevated the horror genre to Oscar-level greatness and produced chills and thrills that resonate with us to this day, the direct sequel The Exorcist: Believer is a tasteless, tacky, uninspired and just plain lousy knockoff that upchucks pea soup-colored porridge all over the legacy of the original, from the crummy-looking and tedious exorcism sequence to the murky cinematography, to the return of an iconic character who is given an absolutely awful and borderline offensive storyline. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkOct 4, 2023
The film is a mélange of tired normcore horror tropes indistinguishable from any film in the Conjuring universe. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 4, 2023
Aafter taking forever to open up the story (some good on location footage in Haiti) and stumbling a bit in setting the “growing sense of doom” tone, Green loses the plot and with it the power to land a big third act punch. Finishing with a swing and a miss can’t have been his intent. Read full review
35
PolygonAusten GoslinOct 6, 2023
In the process of stripping the series down to essentials, Green and co-writer Peter Sattler have made the most boring, uninspired version of The Exorcist imaginable: a regular old exorcism movie. Read full review
30
The AtlanticDavid SimsOct 6, 2023
The Exorcist: Believer brushes up against an interesting notion—this time, the Catholic Church refuses to approve an official exorcism, citing concerns over the safety of the procedure. But the end result is not much different; it’s still a bunch of adults standing in a room yelling prayers and exhortations at possessed girls. Read full review
30
ScreenCrushMatt SingerOct 4, 2023
People routinely label Exorcist II: The Heretic as one of the worst sequels ever made, but at least that movie was going for something. Whatever its flaws, it had some ideas and it is never boring. The Exorcist: Believer commits that sin, and so many more. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerOct 4, 2023
Theologically muddled, narratively simplistic, and somehow pulling off a bigger waste of a legacy character than the near-blasphemous return of Sally Hardesty for 2022's ill-fated Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist: Believer proves that double the possessions does not mean double the fun. Read full review
25
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiOct 4, 2023
Their heads spun 360 degrees. They vomited up green sludge. They violently shouted curse words...No, not the demonically possessed girls in “The Exorcist: Believer” — the awful movie’s furious audience. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubLeigh MonsonOct 4, 2023
An exorcism movie may not need to be compelled by the power of Christ, but something about it still needs to be compelling, and slapping the name The Exorcist on a screenplay that reads like a brainstorming session is just not enough. Read full review
25
IndieWireDavid EhrlichOct 4, 2023
An execrable film that’s redeemed by almost nothing besides Leslie Odom Jr.’s well-modulated lead performance and the ambient sense of unease that Green casts over the story’s first half, “Believer” is so creatively spineless and bereft of its own ideas that its entire concept of sacrilege is limited to imperiling its franchise’s legacy. Read full review
20
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeOct 8, 2023
It requires a rare ineptitude to take what is famously one of the most terrifying movies ever made, recycle pretty much everything (including Tubular Bells on the score) but neglect to include the scares. Read full review
20
Rolling StoneDavid FearOct 6, 2023
There are moments in this borderline incoherent mess of a movie in which fans may be convinced that its sole purpose is to try making the original follow-up, 1977’s legendarily godawful Exorcist II: The Heretic, look positively genius by comparison. Read full review
20
ABC NewsPeter TraversOct 6, 2023
Wild Bill Friedkin’s original 1973 take on demonic possession was thrillingly too much. This safe and sorry sequel from David Gordon Green is boringly too little. Believe this: If you let the marketing devils lure you into this one, you’re in for an unholy mess. Read full review
20
The TelegraphTim RobeyOct 4, 2023
Director David Gordon Green fails to whip up even a fraction of the original 1973 chiller's menace in this sloppy, CGI-heavy farrago. Read full review
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