The Exorcist: Believer(2023)
2023 · David Gordon Green · 111 min
Since his wife's death, Victor has raised his daughter Angela alone. After she and her friend return from a three-day disappearance with missing memories, they begin displaying frightening behavior reminiscent of the MacNeil possession fifty years prior.
Horror
5.81.3k votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
2/5
Gore
2/5
Stays with you
How scary is The Exorcist: Believer?
The first half plays like a slow family drama with unease building underneath, and then the back half tips into loud, graphic possession scenes that borrow heavily from the original film's playbook. It leans on body horror and shouting, thrashing exorcism set-pieces more than pure atmosphere, so it's more confrontational than creeping once it gets going. The fear is mostly about watching people lose control of their bodies and minds, with some real emotional weight around parents and faith, though it doesn't dig as deep under your skin as the classic it's following. It's the kind of movie that startles and unsettles in the moment but fades fairly quickly afterward.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, The Exorcist: Believer rates psychological 3/5, visceral 3/5, gore 2/5, lingering effect 2/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 3 of 5
- Visceral: 3 of 5
- Gore: 2 of 5
- Lingering: 2 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 30 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 10 of 100 — leans Supernatural
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 55 of 100 — balanced
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, quiet setup that gradually tightens into a heavy, escalating final stretch of sustained dread and chaos.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5.
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