Review: ‘The Cleansing Hour’ energizes exorcisms for the digital era

Exorcism movies are prone to schlocky, undercooked ideas. Filmmakers pulverize any assortment of cliches and conceits into tepid packaging and churn it out like maggot-infested cow patties on a conveyor belt. Much like any horror sub-genre, demonic possession can get stale very quickly and leave the audience feeling bored and lifeless.

Every once in a while, though, there comes along a film so dangerously fun and repulsively wonderful that even its rough, jagged edges are an invitation for a damn good time. Damien Leveck’s The Cleansing Hour (co-written with Aaron Horwitz) handles the exorcism archetype with delightful irreverence ⏤ marking the narrative with discussions around our culture’s voyueristic tendencies, evangelical exploitation, and the threatening role of technology in demonic possession.

Our film’s very flawed, perfectly-chiseled protagnost, Ryan Guzman (The Boy Next Door) plays Father Max, a priest who’s taken to internet streaming to find the fame for which he so desperately hungers. He banks hard into his good looks to charm his many adoring viewers into believeing he’s a real priest (and buying some “Vatican-approved” merchandise along the way). With his buddy Drew (Kyle Gallner, A Nightmare on Elm Street) behind the controls, monitoring and whispering buzz words into Max’s ear, Father Max stages various fake exorcisms, and he seems to be doing quite well for himself. But he wants more, including that much-coveted blue check mark on his socials. Fame hungry vultures always want more, and Drew’s attempts to keep him grounded, while perhaps breaking new ground to expand the brand, fall on deaf ears.

When a local drag queen, the show’s next so-called victim, fails to show up on set, Drew’s girlfriend Lane (Alix Angelis) fills in for the evening. Little does anyone know, except for perhaps the boom operator, who suspects something sinister very early on, the broadcast will be their most convincing one they’ve ever done. An unnamed demon abruptly inhabits Lane, wreacking havoc not only on her body and mind but the rest of the crew, as well. Corruption of mainstream evangelical television programming takes centerstage here, as the bloodthirsty entity forces Max and Drew to their knees (metaphorically speaking) to reveal long-buried secrets about the show, traumatic childhoods, and adultery.

The Cleansing Hour is far from perfect, often slipping on genre tropes we’ve seen countless times before, yet its unpolished nature just seems to work. Even more, grotesque practical effects, particularly in the third act when the demon reveals its true form, and starstudded performances from Angelis, Gallner, and Guzman hook you in and never let go. Angelis is the irrefutable superstar of the bunch, her performance whisking between demon and victim with considerable, frightening ease ⏤ and if she doesn’t become a horror icon down the line, that’ll be a great tragedy.

The Cleansing Hour is now streaming on Shudder.

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