Deliver Us from Evil (2014)

Deliver Us from Evil is at its best when it welds a hard-boiled Bronx police procedural to a creeping, spiritual dread, the kind that seeps into streetlights and subway tunnels and makes the familiar city feel suddenly hostile. Scott Derrickson directs with a steady hand for atmosphere, letting the tension build in grimy, grounded scenes before the supernatural intrudes, and Eric Bana sells the exhaustion and moral bruising of a cop who’s run out of rational explanations. Edgar Ramírez brings a sharp, urgent energy as the renegade priest, and their uneasy partnership gives the film a gritty momentum that keeps it moving even when it brushes up against genre touchstones. It’s not for the squeamish—this is an R-rated ride with violence and terror—but if you like your horror anchored in crime-scene realism, it’s an engrossing, nasty little descent.

Deliver Us from Evil wants to mash up a gritty NYPD procedural with a full-on demonic-possession horror story, and you can feel Scott Derrickson aiming for that “real-world dread” vibe. The problem is the film often lands in a frustrating middle zone: the investigation drags, the scares lean on familiar exorcism beats, and the plot can get a bit convoluted without ever becoming truly unsettling. Eric Bana brings a solid, weary-cop intensity and there are a few nasty, atmospheric moments that briefly wake it up, but don’t expect fresh mythology or sustained tension. If you’re tired of possession tropes or need tight pacing to stay engaged, this one may feel more routine than terrifying.