8/24/21 - Demonic (2021) - 4/10

When Neil Blomkamp made District 9 I, like so many, was excited. Visually enticing, smart sci-fi, detail oriented - felt like a future Ridley Scott or Guillermo Del Toro. But, then Elysium was disappointing and Chappie just wasn’t any good, so we had to wonder what Blomkamp had to offer. Rumored film concepts and theoretical attachments can sporadically over the next few years, but nothing materialized. Then the trailer for Demonic, which looked like a techno-exorcism tale; a horror concept with legs and possibilities. Then I watched it. Alas folks for I think my hopes for the future have been extinguished. Sometimes, just because you make one great thing, doesn’t mean such inspiration or execution lightning will strike again.

Demonic is about a scarred daughter meeting her thought-to-be-insane and comatose mother in a neo-future virtual mindscape only to find that they aren’t alone. The concept is somewhat cool, but fails in realization. The plot is ultra-simplistic, the characters are thin-to-non-existent, and the drama is both faminous and glutinous. It really over-complicates itself in the final act, shoving in what might otherwise be a “cool” concept but doesn’t work here, especially while barely being there. It’s more of a device to get from point A to point C without the legwork and just doesn’t achieve anything.

A tighter encapsulated story or an expansion of the 3rd act into a whole film might have worked but we didn’t get those. Because of that, we didn’t get a good film. It was empty, it was lacking terror, and it wasn’t extensively enjoyable. Sadly, it’s a skip and probably don’t bother when the next NB joint comes along.