Parents Say: age 15+ 
14 reviews
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A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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Positive Messages
a little
People are born full of hope and a longing for happiness, and the devil wants to take that away. Our greatest power is in not giving up, no matter how hard that may seem.
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Positive Role Models
very little
The characters seem to be good people, but they're in stressful situations, and in pursuing their main goal of saving their children, bad behavior sometimes happens along the way.
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Diverse Representations
some
Main character Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) is a Black single father. Black artist/performer Okwui Okpokwasili (the daughter of Igbo Nigerians) plays a doctor who practices root magic. E.J. Bonilla, who's of Puerto Rican descent, plays a priest. Women have a strong presence, especially Ann Dowd as a helpful next-door neighbor and nurse; Jennifer Nettles as the mother of Katherine, who musters up extra strength during the final ritual; and Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, the mother of Regan from the original movie, who's now an expert on demon possessions. The most prominent White male character is portrayed as cowardly and prone to temper tantrums. Early scenes are set in Haiti, and minor "Ugly American" comments are made.
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Violence & Scariness
a lot
Character stabbed in eyes with metal cross. During a scene in which abortion is discussed, blood is shown seeping through a blanket/gown and pooling around a girl. Head twisted around backward, broken neck. Young girls in peril. Young girl dragged under water. Scary demon faces. Jump scares. Unsettling moments. Creepy images. Seizures. Screaming. Huge head-butt sends a person flying across the room. Girl wraps scarf around man's head and bashes it against a solid object. Deep scratches on skin. Broken, mangled fingernails and toenails, detached toenail. Injections. Spewing green stuff. Vomiting. Threats. Violent earthquake. Car crash. Brief image of dogs fighting. Boxing in gym. Stressful noises: jackhammers, car horns, etc. 13-year-old girls are examined in stirrups for evidence of sexual assault.
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
a little
Married couple kisses tenderly. Man makes a rude sexual gesture with a hot dog. Young girl briefly appears to be touching herself under her dress. Woman tells story of being a young novitiate and getting pregnant. Dialogue about abortion.
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Language
a lot
Sporadic use of "f--k," "c--t," "son of a bitch," "damn," "hell," "whor*," "oh my God."
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
very little
Whiskey drinking during business visit.
See AlsoThe Exorcist Movie ReviewThe Exorcist [1973] [R] – 5.7.7Parent reviews for The ExorcistSCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: THE EXORCISTDid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Exorcist: Believer is the sixth movie in the famous demon possession series that began with 1973's classic The Exorcist. It feels a little like a cash-grab, but it's also skillfully made, with fine attention to detail and performances by the likes of Leslie Odom Jr. and Ann Dowd. Violence is intense and includes young girls in peril, deaths, a woman being stabbed in the eyes, lots of blood, a head twisted around backward (resulting in a broken neck), scary demon faces, jump scares, unsettling/creepy moments, characters being hit or hurled across rooms, scratches on skin, mangled finger- and toenails, vomiting, and more. There's a tender kiss, a rude sexual gesture, a young girl appearing to touch herself, an examination related to potential sexual assault, and dialogue about pregnancy and abortion. Sporadic language includes uses of "f--k," "c--t," "son of a bitch," "damn," "hell," "whor*," and "oh my God." Characters share whiskey in one scene. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
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The Exorcist: Believer
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- Parents say (14)
- Kids say (9)
age 15+
Based on 14 parent reviews
BlitzGuy20 Parent of 11-year-old
October 14, 2023
age 13+
Mostly disappointing horror sequel has some disturbing images
The Exorcist: Believer is not as disturbing, violent or profane as the original film from the 70s. It’s mostly bland with occasional disturbing scenes of young teenage girls possessed by a vulgar demon who taunts their parents using violence and threats. There is also some language, which is also tame compared to the first film, along with brief sexual references.VIOLENCE: MODERATEThere are the occasional scenes where wounds, self harm and violence (supernatural) is seen with blood and detail. None of these scenes are overly gory at all.A man is suddenly attacked by having a scarf thrown over his head by his daughter who smashes his head against the side of a chair. He (unrealistically) is completely unharmed afterwards.A girl is seen with her toenails and fingernails clearly ripped off in aftermath. They are bloody, some of them hanging off. She also has cuts on her stomach which she gave to herself, and we see a photo of another girls stomach with similar cuts. This is not graphic.The two girls, who become possessed by demonic entities, deteriorate in condition throughout the mid point of the film becoming pail and looking similar to zombies. A girl makes unsettling comments about an abortion before bleeding through her bed covers in heavy amounts while laughing.A woman has her eyes stabbed out with a crucifix by a possessed girl. She grabs the crucifix and repeatedly stabs near her face with blood coming out while she screams. The scene is executed in such a way that any graphic impact is eliminated by quick and brief shots which avoid being too brutal. There is still quite a bit of blood, and she is permanently blinded.The exorcism can be considered intense, with the two girls writhing in pain while being read prayers and screaming out. They drool, cough and spit up black liquid from their mouths, spit green goo on a woman’s face and at one point a girl vomits up a giant black mass onto the floor. They both beg not to die and make violent threats, mocking religion and the parents worry for their children repeatedly.An upside down cross is carved onto a girls head by an invisible force. No blood is seen, it just appears there.A priest has his neck slowly broken by a demon. His head turns slowly, then when his neck breaks the bone is seen separating and popping unnaturally to the side with a bug crunch. His head spins around completely backwards and he falls dead with some blood able to be glimpsed on the floor. Likely the films most violent moment.A man is head butted and flung across the room.While the violence described may sound strong or graphic, it is not. In fact, with few edits and a decrease in profanity, this film could be PG-13.LANGUAGE: MODERATE3 uses of f*ck, 1 use of c*nting (other use for the word c*nt), damn, hell and ass are occasionally used along with bitch and whor*. A lot of the language is spoken by demons.SEXUAL CONTENT: MILDTwo young teen girls have their hymen inspected to see if they were sexually assaulted. No nudity is seen, but it is described and they are seen opening their legs.A homeless man makes a crude remark about an underage girl going to the woods for sex by putting his finger back and forth through a hole in his hand.Possessed girls make crude remarks (eg. “Your c*nting daughter”, “your gods whor*”)
Peter G. Adult
October 12, 2023
age 18+
Terrible film , not the even close to the original spiritual element the original movie had
I was very disappointed for something that looked decent in the movie trailers. Very quick and rushed in certain scenes that needed more spiritual element ( horrible editing). I think it is not a good idea to complete the rest of the trilogy unless someone takes the subject really seriously and put his life and soul into making the movies. Thank you
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What's the Story?
In THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER, professional photographer Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.) is in Haiti with his pregnant wife (Tracey Graves). She receives a blessing from some local women for her baby but is then fatally injured in an earthquake. Thirteen years later, back in the States, overprotective Victor and his daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett), try to make the best of things. Angela asks to spend the afternoon with her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum), and Victor reluctantly agrees. But rather than doing homework together, the girls head out to the woods to perform a ritual to contact Angela's dead mother. Later, the girls fail to return home and are missing for three days. When they're found, they seem odd. Soon, they're speaking in demon voices, saying secrets that no one on earth could know. It's clear that they're beyond a doctor's help, so Victor arranges for a ceremony that could prove deadly.
Is It Any Good?
Our review:
Parents say (14):
Kids say (9):
As he did with Halloween (2018), director David Gordon Green pays homage to a 1970s classic with just enough new touches to bring it up to date. The Exorcist: Believer may be unnecessary, but it's mostly entertaining. Still, the overarching question sparked by the movie is: Why is it here, other than as a financial gambit based on the success of Green's Halloween movies? It doesn't do much differently than any other demon possession/exorcism movies of the past several decades -- and it doesn't even have an exorcist in it.
But Green seems to have put a lot of care and attention into his movie, offering a revamped version of the creepy "Tubular Bells" theme music and working in a decent homage to director William Friedkin's eerie sound design on the original The Exorcist (1973), a smashing-together of quiet moments and sudden sounds. It's also refreshing to see a movie that opens its arms to various faiths (or even lack of faith). The casting is also first-rate, with Odom Jr. and Ann Dowd providing strong emotional moments, and the great Ellen Burstyn reprising her Oscar-nominated role as Chris MacNeil many decades later. Like all the sequels in this franchise, The Exorcist: Believer falls well short of the original, but it still offers enough atmospheric horror to turn heads.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about The Exorcist: Believer's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
Is the movie scary? What's the appeal of horror movies? Why do people sometimes like to be scared?
How does this movie compare to the other Exorcist films? How does it continue the story? What does it do differently?
Do you agree with the nurse character that the purpose of the devil is to steal away our hope? If so, how can we fight that?
Did you notice positive representations in the film? What about stereotypes?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 6, 2023
- On DVD or streaming: December 19, 2023
- Cast: Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles
- Director: David Gordon Green
- Inclusion Information: Black actors, Female actors
- Studio: Universal Pictures
- Genre: Horror
- Topics: Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Run time: 111 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: some violent content, disturbing images, language and sexual references
- Last updated: April 22, 2024
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The Exorcist: Believer
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