Dir. Daniel Stamm | Now Streaming On: Hulu | Rating: 2/5

I rounded out my Halloweekend by seeing Prey for the Devil in a virtually empty movie theater. After seeing the trailer, I went into this honestly expecting a much different premise to the story. Overall, I didn’t hate this at all – but I really do understand why the critics weren’t crazy about it. Prey for the Devil brings a dramatic flair to the lore of exorcism, but ultimately delivers nothing out of the ordinary. ⁠
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Religious horror, especially surrounding possession, is my favorite subgenre, so I was definitely the target audience for this film. There is some interesting commentary on the intersections of the signs of possession and what the secular world views as mental illness. I love a good jab at the corruption of the Catholic church as an institution. Prey somehow manages to both support the structures of Catholicism, while also challenging their antiquity. ⁠
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One of the only strong points of Prey is its rhetoric on the control people have in healing from their own trauma. Through Ann, the film tackles the idea that by coming to terms with your own darkness, you can heal from it. We could debate whether this is too simplified of a take on trauma, but I will say it’s one I rarely see in this subgenre. ⁠
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What makes Prey such a weak addition to this very saturated subgenre is its drawn out and slow storyline. This film spends a lot of time worldbuilding and explaining itself, to stumble through the horror elements and major takeaways. As a viewer, I’m interested in the lore and structure of organized religion, so I didn’t mind this – but an average viewer looking for a scare would be bored out of their mind. Prey also delivers a Hallmark-esque and hokey ending that disappoints not only its viewer but also its genre expectations. ⁠
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Though I have a bit of an affinity for what this movie was trying to do, it can’t hold its own against the heavyweights of this genre. ⁠
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Know Before You Watch: Features mention of suicide, death, blood. ⁠