Demonic

"When the pandemic occurred and my other projects were put on hold, I wanted to do something we could control and just go out and shoot. References for that were films like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, so I decided to do something in the horror realm. I also had this idea of using a new technology called volumetric capture, which lent itself more to science fiction. So it became a case of how do you create a story with those elements. - Neill Blomkamp

After three very successful science fiction films (District 9 (2009), Elysium (2013), Chappie (2015)), director, visual effects specialist and screenwriter Neill Blomkamp seems to want to break out of the straitjacket in which cinema has placed him to try new areas of exploration. Coming back to independent genre cinema, his fourth film shows us again that he is an excellent storyteller and masters perfectly his direction to give film a horrific thriller as scary as it is gripping.

It is interesting to see Neill Blomkamp's way of approaching the horror genre and more precisely the demonic possession film to place it in a modern setting in which high tech continues to have a predominant place. We discover Carly Spenser (Carly Pope) in the grip of recurring nightmares that seem to be related to her difficult past and her complicated relationship with her mother with whom she has cut all ties. Yet when she learns that her mother Angela (Nathalie Boltt) has fallen into a coma, she reluctantly agrees to participate in a state-of-the-art therapy that will allow her to access Angela's still active brain and communicate with her. 

This new medical protocol has her being carefully observed by a doctor, Michael (Michael J. Rogers) and a neuroscientist, Daniel (Terry Chen). As Carly enters this frightening simulation of Angela's mental world, she discovers the powerful supernatural force that drove her mother to commit unspeakable acts of violence nearly twenty years earlier. This experience will amplify her nightmares and make her experience terrifying visions when she is awake. Her only way out is to team up with her old friend Martin (Chris William Martin) and try to repel this monstrous demon before it can find a new host and inflict more pain and suffering.

It's easy to understand director Neill Blomkamp's desire to try a new cinematic experience when shooting on big budget films was halted during the summer of 2020 in favor of a low budget film that doesn't require a large infrastructure. In the same way this film is also for this director to test a new technology, the volumetric capture. This three-dimensional video process allows actors to be transformed into geometry and relies on the use of about 260 cameras arranged in a sort of grid that can see the actors from several points of view. The twenty minutes or so that use this process significantly strengthens the scenes in which Carly can enter the mental universe of her mother. 

Demonic thus proves to be a true cinematographic experience that reflects our own fears. While the horror cinema tends towards very violent scenes in which blood flows freely, Demonic prefers to bet on the establishment of a disturbing framework and especially succeeds in making us jump on its chair on several occasions. While Blumhouse Productions seems to be the master of low budget horror movies, Demonis is all the more successful because it doesn't seem to want to follow any pre-established models. The result is a truly original film that will easily surprise you until the perfectly mastered ending.  In the same way, Neill Blomkamp's script is based on a real desire to give the main female character Carly a real psychological thickness, which makes the audience get attached to this character. The actress Carly Pope (Elysium (2013), Concrete Blondes (201) and the series Arrow, Blindspot and Good Doctor).

Finally, we note that this new film by Neill Blomkamp will have its European premiere at the London festival Frightfest, which will be held from August 26 to August 30. 

Demonic
Written and Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Produced by Neill Blomkamp, Mike Blomkamp, Stuart Ford, Linda McDonough
Starring Carly Pope, Chris William Martin, Michael J. Rogers, Nathalie Boltt, Terry Chen
Music by Ola Strandh
Cinematography : Byron Kopman
Edited by : Austyn Daines
Production companies : AGC Studios, Stabiliti Studios
Distributed by IFC Midnight (United States)
Release date : March 2021 (Berlinale), August 20, 2021 (United States)
Running time : 105 minutes

Seen on August 12, 2021 (press screener) 

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