Why The Exorcist: Believer Features Fewer Easter Eggs Than You'd Think [Exclusive]
David Gordon Green's new film "The Exorcist: Believer" appears to be a sequel that — like the director's own 2018 version of "Halloween" — ignores any extant sequels and stands as the first sequel in a new alternate timeline. These sorts of canon-erasing shenanigans are old hat in 2023, however, so there's no reason to cry foul. Unlike Green's "Halloween," though, "Believer" tries a little harder to forge its own path and form its own identity.
"Believer" may still have the usual trappings of any exorcism movie (young girls with yellow eyes, demonic voices, prayers shouted angrily at bound-up demon children), but it doesn't rely too heavily on the mythology laid out in William Friedkin's 1973 original the way most reboots/legacy sequels might. There is one repeated line of dialogue from the original, but it's stated in jest. There is a returning character as well, but she only plays a supporting role. Green seemed eager to tell his own story and explore a new theme. More than anything, though, he just wanted to be straightforward. Although thematically and theologically rich, the original "Exorcist" has been, in the last 50 years, trimmed down a few pop beats, leaving the story feeling surprisingly efficient in the eyes of people weaned on its many imitators.
/Film's own B.J. Colangelo recently spoke to Green about "Believer," and he revealed his no-frills approach to making this particular legacy sequel. One might naturally assume that there are a lot of opportunities for callbacks and quotations in a new "Exorcist" movie by mere dint of his cultural ubiquity, but Green saved those for "Halloween." This film, he said, aimed to be more theological than precious.
Believer is not a party
Green said:
"I tried to not make it too clever, and so I wanted things that worked in terms of our narrative, but I didn't want it to just be fan service Easter eggs. I've done a lot of that in the 'Halloween' movies, but it's a little bit more of a joyful popcorn movie in terms of the sub-genre of slasher as opposed to possession. And I was really trying to lean into the priority of this being, as Friedkin called it, a 'theological thriller.'"
Indeed, even authors at /Film have had a ball hunting for "Halloween" Easter eggs. Slashers, Green seems to argue, for however somber or violent they may be, tend to feel more like a party, especially to horror fans. The genre's banality is where a lot of its charm comes from, so seeing predictably violent deaths at the hands of a mass killer can elicit just as many cheers as screams. That kind of raucous energy is missing from Friedkin's "The Exorcist," as well as its sequels. For lack of a better word, the series is simply more serious than a lot of its horror peers.
Green, it seems, wanted to retain that seriousness. "The Exorcist: Believer" is not a party. Green's theological explorations take holy power out of the exclusive hands of the Roman Catholic church and argue that worship is just as much about community as it is dogma.
There are a few, but they're not for you
Green, of course, did include multiple "Exorcist" references, but they weren't the kinds of Easter eggs an audience is meant to seek. He's perfectly willing to distract his audience with winky references when making "Halloween" movies, but "Believer" was a different animal. He said:
"I wanted to not make it something that would distract you or take you out of the movie. If you know the original film well and you see those nods, they're in there. The music is primal and powerful. Does that trigger something in all of us? And it is not dense with Easter eggs. In fact, the few that I'm even thinking of, I don't even know that an audience in a million years would ever notice, but were there for art department and some of our own kind of spiritual connection to working in the world of 'The Exorcist.'"
A few that this author spotted: Green did make use of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells," a piece of music that served as the theme to Friedkin's film. During the film's climactic exorcism scene, one of the demons shouts a familiar line of dialogue that fans of "The Exorcist" might note. The others, Green may eventually reveal, but perhaps only deep-cut fans will notice ... if anyone notices at all.
Green will follow up "The Exorcist: Believer" with "The Exorcist: Deceiver," due for release in 2025.