31 Days of Halloween: The Seventh Day

2021, Justin P Lange (The Dark) -- Netflix

Well, poo. We finished another season and I am not sure we ever really hit any stride. Next year we should do a month of Shudder and milk it for what it's worth. 

I was raised Catholic, and for a time actually subscribed to it. I was thoroughly frightened of an actual embodiment of Evil being out there. I was also mesmerized by the idea that there was a branch of the Church assigned to combating it. Twelve year old Toast ascribed them to being D&D Clerics, warriors of Holy nature who fought with spells and Holy Right. Alas, the exorcist as portrayed usually fights the demons via yelling repeated holy phrases over and over and over. Most of their power comes from knowing the enemy they are dealing with. And faith.

In The Seventh Day we are given Father Peter (Guy Pearce, The Rover), a seasoned exorcist who witnessed his mentor die at the hands (influence?) of a very powerful demon, who then burned alive the young boy it was inhabiting. Peter is portrayed as a very cynical, grizzled noir detective style priest wearing old sweaters and driving a run down Park Vic. He is handed the fresh out of exorcist school Father Daniel (Vadhir Derbez, Dulce Familia), one of many new priests rushed through the school of exorcism due an uptick of Evil in the world. Previously, the Church had been stepping away from exorcism as a tool due to all the bad press it had received, likely referring to all the failed exorcisms in 90s and 2000s movies.

After a brief intro where Daniel fails to recognize a demon inside an outreach worker, their first case is a young boy who has murdered his family. Peter keeps on tossing Daniel into the fray without an ounce of training, or any real advice. People have catch-phrased this "Training Day meets The Exorcist" but considering how little seasoned knowledge Peter passes onto Daniel, its not at all. Peter is more about Daniel experiencing everything first hand, unprepared, so he can say to the Church, "See! Your two week school of exorcism is a fucking sham!!"

But of course, Daniel perseveres. He recognizes that something has the boy, and despite the abuse he had heaped upon him by his family, he really is possessed. And the demon is just having fun hinting that something else is coming up. The world is ripe for the picking, Evil has been increasing and they are getting ready. This sounds more like the first episode of a pretty decent exorcism TV show.

In a end-of-second-act scene, there is a horrific amount of violence and death where I assumed Daniel was having a dream, seeing the demon emerge from the boy and slay a ton of cops and doctors. But no, it happens. They all do die, and Daniel & Peter escape, barely, with the blood covered kid in the backseat of the Park Vic. They take him to his house, and prepare for battle.

But really, they go where I didn't expect, but if I had given it just an ounce more of attention, it would have been obvious. Father Peter has not been so much as fighting demons as he has been playing the long game, himself having been long term possessed. Daniel recognizes it and does battle and does the Good Work. 

Still despite rather standard tropes and nothing truly scary, the movie was solid as a exorcist thriller. I just wish it had done something more with Father Peter as the the seasoned grizzled exorcist, perhaps even keeping on with the "he's already possessed" idea by having a war going on, and having the grizzled warrior work with Daniel to defeat what was within him.