Unlike many, I actually thought The Exorcist: Believer was a pretty ok movie. But here comes When Evil Lurks to show it how to update the possession formula… and push the limits. It reminded me of No One Will Save You in that it’s playing in a very familiar genre but finding new ways to tell its story.

The film takes place in a world where demonic possession is a known danger that has changed society. In a rural Argentina untouched by the chaos in the rest of the world, a pair of brothers discover one of the possessed in their midst. Can they follow the rules and save their family… or is it already too late?

This flick is almost too much of itself. A film drenched in a cloud of oppressive paranoia and violence. There were multiple moments in the flick when I paused my brain to take stock… I was genuinely unnerved, even a little scared. That simply doesn’t happen often enough for me and when it does, I welcome it. It manages this with only one (very effective) jump scare and a lingering atmosphere of dread.

It handles world-building and exposition great. We aren’t introduced to this world with a voice-over or text-crawl. We only know something is off through casual references by characters who already known what’s going on. The film doesn’t pull an “as you know” scene since they already know… and the audience is asked to keep up. There are two brief expositions but they work in context of who’s talking and who its being talked to.

The film’s scope is small and I loved that. Whatever is happening here is happening in the rest of the world… but we’re focused on this one family. Emblematic of a bigger dread. It reminded me of what I loved about Signs.

This is a pretty terrific film full of desperation, anxiety, and misery. It left me wanting to know more or to see what happens next which is a sign of a good narrative. It might be a bit too aggressive in its hopeless, mean-spirited bleakness… but I wallowed in it. I had a “good time” feeling anxious and uncertain. Your results may vary.

Score: 92