The Deliverance trailer: Lee Daniels exorcism movie reaches theatres and Netflix in August

Nearly ten years have gone by since it was first announced that Precious director Lee Daniels would be taking the helm of a exorcism movie that was being referred to as the time as Demon House. Back in 2022, the project – with the new title of The Deliverance – was picked up by the Netflix streaming service for $65 million. It has since made its way through production and is set to reach select theatres on August 16th, before reaching Netflix two weeks later, on August 30th. With those dates swiftly approaching, a trailer for The Deliverance has arrived online and can be seen in the embed above.

Daniels’ The United States vs. Billie Holiday star Andra Day takes on the lead role of Ebony, “the mother of an Indiana family whose children purportedly became demonically possessed in a thriller inspired by an actual case.” Here’s the film’s synopsis: Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.

As for the true story behind it all, Variety reported, “In a case widely covered at the time, Latoya Ammons and her three children experienced strange incidents in their Gary, IN, home that grew progressively worse, with the children levitating, becoming violent with one another and speaking in growls and deep voices with no recollection afterward. Skeptics abounded, but the Gary Police Department, Department of Child Services and the local church and hospital all became involved, filing reports that took the supernatural occurrences seriously. Officers, doctors and social workers said they witnessed many of the incidents, including one in which her 9-year-old son walked backward up a wall. The Indianapolis Star covered it closely as the Department of Child Services investigated it.“

Also in the cast of The Deliverance are Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction), Omar Epps (The Devil You Know), Demi Singleton (King Richard), Miss Lawrence (Star), Anthony B. Jenkins (The Wonder Years), Rob Morgan (Don’t Look Up), Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things), and Aunjanue Ellis (Lovecraft Country). Here’s come character information: “McLaughlin will play the son of Ebony, at an older age. Close will play Ebony’s mother. Morgan will play the boyfriend of Ebony. And Smith plays Asia, who is Ebony’s best friend.”

Octavia Spencer had been cast to play a clergy member who tries to help Day’s character navigate through the hauntings and the exorcisms, but she had to drop out of the project and was replaced by Precious‘s Mo’Nique.

Drafts of the screenplay were written by both Dave Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum, then Daniels rewrote it himself. Thomas Westfall also receives a writing credit. Daniels is producing the film with Tucker Tooley, Pam Williams, Todd Crites, and Jackson Nguyen. Greg Renker Hilary Shor, Jackie Shenoo, and Gregoire Gensollen are executive producing.

What did you think of the trailer for The Deliverance? Will you be watching this movie next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.