Film Review: PREY FOR THE DEVIL (2022): A Routine Exorcism Movie With Some Thought-Provoking Themes

Prey for the Devil Review

Prey for the Devil (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Daniel Stamm, written by Robert Zappia and starring Jacqueline Byers, Virginia Madsen, Christian Navarro, Colin Salmon, Nicholas Ralph, Ben Cross, Lisa Palfrey, Debora Zhecheva, Posy Taylor, Derek Morse, Tom Forbes, Yana Marinova, Koyna Ruseva, Cora Kirk, Velizar Binev, Owen Davis, Keith Bartlett and Anton Dimitrachkov.

Director Daniel Stamm has brought an interesting but ultimately all too familiar tale of terror to the screen with his new exorcism movie, Prey for the Devil. This film revolves around a nun/would-be female exorcist named Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers) who is answering a call from God when she attempts to join a school that will teach her the ways true exorcisms work. Stamm stages some good dramatic scenes in the movie which are full of suspense and intriguing ideas but are also very predictable in nature if you’ve seen as many horror films as I have.

Colin Salmon serves as a professor named Father Quinn who helps Sister Ann shape her gifts which will definitely serve a purpose when Sister Ann meets a young girl named Natalie (Posy Taylor) who seems to be the victim of demonic possession. Sister Ann shares a strong bond with Natalie but what does the bond between them signify? That secret is at the core of the movie and the answers behind the secret are properly built up to by some solid, intense scenes. The big problem with the film is that the movie goes from deep drama to scare fest haphazardly–sometimes even in the same sequence.

There are a lot of thought-provoking themes in this movie. For one, Sister Ann seems to come from a troubled home and has faced some of her own personal “demons” in regards to her relationship with her mentally ill mother. I liked how the movie poses the theme of self-sacrifice for one’s child and Byers strongly conveys her character’s integrity throughout the entire movie. When the movie reveals the tricks it has up its sleeve (which are not displayed through the movie’s jump thrill scares advertised in the trailers for the picture), there is some plot development that works to the film’s advantage in creating genuine audience interest.

Christian Navarro’s Father Dante is the other main character in the movie. A student, like Sister Ann, the two characters team up to fight the demonic force which is possessing Natalie and seems to possibly be a familiar demon in our heroine’s life because Sister Ann’s mom was also visited by this entity years back. Or was she? At one point, an older man starts to harass Sister Ann in a hospital and sticks out his tongue at her. Ann is not that dismayed, however, and still proceeds to dig deeper regarding her own personal desires to help free the possessed of the demons within them. When Sister Ann helps perform an exorcism of her own on another female character within the movie, the plot thickens when that lady commits suicide afterwards.

Without giving anything away, the movie is at its best when it explores the topic of motherhood versus financial and personal obligations that get in the way of raising a child. This picture also deals with the exploration of mental illness for a little bit before it sinks into the routine horror movie it mostly is for the duration of the film’s running time.

Byers is a strong female character and has some interesting personality traits which make her relatable. The rest of the cast like Navarro and Salmon add some distinct qualities to their performances which make the actors moderately successful in their roles. It’s also nice to see Virginia Madsen of the original Candyman back in another deep horror movie some 30 years after Candyman. Madsen’s Dr. Peters shares some solid scenes with Byers’ Sister Ann and the two actresses are admirable here in the conviction they bring to their parts. Ben Cross as another character, Cardinal Matthews, also has his moments. It is Posy Taylor as Natalie, though, who is the real scene-stealer making her child character the most interesting one presented in the picture. Taylor has abilities as an actress which make her the most valuable player here.

What isn’t so strong about Prey for the Devil is its cliched scenes of people possessed by demons which seem straight out of other much better films. Plus, the new movie’s  ending is directly out of the been-there, done-that book when it comes to poorly done horror movie conclusions that try to leave the door open for a sequel. This film would have been smarter to avoid such tired horror movie conventions to focus on the plot threads that make the movie unique. But, never mind. This movie missed its full potential but is an interesting enough diversion for less demanding movie-goers.

Rating: 6/10

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