Learning my column, “Don’t let the devil take your family from you,” was drawing negative commentary surprised me initially. I hadn’t expected fire over it, but from what I heard, detractors were taking issue with the devil’s very existence.
No surprise there. Satan’s most masterful ploy is to convince us he’s fiction. As the world tries to erase God, this fallen angel “disappears,” too.
Humanity’s unfortunate oversight in this regard comes out in James 2:19, where we learn that “even the demons believe and tremble” over God’s reality. Fr. Carlos Martins of the new, popular podcast, “The Exorcist Files,” has said that during exorcisms, the demons never use God’s name in vain. Ironically, they respect God more than many humans.
In the movie “Nefarious,” which means “wicked in the extreme,” the spiritual world manifests powerfully. If it had been Hollywood-produced, its main character, Sean Patrick Flannery, likely would have earned an Oscar for his role, which switches between human and demon.
The movie has been well-described as a modern-day “Screwtape Letters.” C.S. Lewis fans will understand, for the film shows the world from the devil’s perspective, turning everything we know on its head to illustrate how duped we’ve become as humans.
Those with eyes to see might feel a chill watching it, realizing the ways in which we, as “evolved humans,” have allowed evil to seep into our lives in ways we couldn’t have imagined even a decade ago.
The film was inspired by the book, “A Nefarious Plot,” by New York Times best-selling author Steve Deace, written and produced by Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, who brought us “God’s Not Dead” and “Unplanned.” It’s a horror film, but not typically so. Even those who tend to steer clear of this genre will likely appreciate its message and presentation, which, while displaying a few uncomfortable scenes, avoids vulgarity and sexual exploitation.
The entire film takes place inside the Oklahoma State Reformatory, where a convicted serial killer awaits execution. But when the court orders a last-minute psychiatric evaluation, a dialogue ensues between killer and psychiatrist. At the outset, the murderer, Edward, claims he’s actually a demon. From there, we get a harrowing glimpse into the mind of demonic possession, and of darkness itself.
While you’d think a film set in such confined quarters might bore viewers after a while, the opposite happens. It would be hard to disengage from the riveting conversation that takes place. What does a demon think? And exactly how has the demonic world influenced us? The word hoodwinked comes to mind.
In a recent endorsement of the film, Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, a well-known Catholic prelate, noted how our culture has obscured the reality of sin and our relentless struggle against Satan, contending the film “aptly shines light on this (spiritual) combat and the Devil’s tactics in leading us to betray and abandon our Lord.”
So, you still don’t believe in the devil? I won’t be surprised if this film challenges more than a few skeptical minds.
[For the sake of having a repository for my newspaper columns and articles, I reprint them here, with permission, a week after their run date. The preceding ran in The Forum newspaper on May 15, 2023.]
I’m presently reading A Nefarious Plot by Steve Deace and looking forward to seeing the movie. I have never doubted that there is a devil, and therefore evil, in this world.
I really need to read that as well! Thanks for planting that idea. Let me know what you think of the movie, and how it corresponds.