christian movie reviews nefarious

'Nefarious' uses horror to tell a faith-based story. But Glenn Beck's cameo is really scary

“Nefarious” moves along like a garden-variety possession movie, with a convicted killer hours away from the electric chair trying to convince a court-ordered psychiatrist he is a demon who has taken over the prisoner.

Sean Patrick Flanery has a grand old time playing Edward, who has been convicted of several murders, and Nefarious, the demon who claims to possess him. Dr. James Martin (Jordan Belfi) is the doctor who has to decide if he’s mentally competent enough to be executed.

It’s pretty standard horror fare — Edward knows an alarming amount about James’ life, even though there is no reason he should. A light bulb mysteriously explodes. “Probably just a coincidence,” Edward says, shrugging.

Flanery really sells the possession aspect, portraying the demon half of the character as super-intelligent and manipulative. But is he faking it?

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Is 'Nefarious' a Christian movie?

Without revealing too much, he then rants about abortion being murder, which is all well and good from the demon's perspective, but not from the filmmakers'. And they're not subtle about it.

Up to this point, you wouldn’t have guessed “Nefarious” is a faith-based movie. Although it’s not a surprise, given the other films writers and directors Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon have made; their resume includes such films as “God’s Not Dead” and “Unplanned.”

Which is fine, until their message becomes increasingly heavy-handed and the film begins to suffer accordingly, at least in cinematic terms. (How it works on a religious level will be up to you and your faith.)

But including Glenn Beck in your movie? That’s neither well nor good.

Glenn Beck doesn't belong in any movie

Beck is a loudmouth conspiracy theorist who wore out his welcome at Fox News, kinda sorta said he was sorry when he opposed Donald Trump in 2016, and then changed his tune again.

He showed up on Tucker Carlson , for whom he might be considered a role model in the misinformation game, the night Trump was indicted, predicting that within two years the U.S. would be at war (with whom varied), that the dollar would collapse and that we’ll be living in a “virtual police state.”

This is not someone you want in your movie, no matter what you believe.

Beck shows up at the end, playing himself, in an epilogue. He oozes sincerity and compassion.

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There's nothing subtle about 'Nefarious'

Before that, the film is mostly a set piece staged between Edward and James. James is an atheist — oops — who doesn’t believe in demons or possession, or in God for that matter. Edward assures him that this will not protect him.

If you’re such a non-believer, Edward taunts, then let me inhabit you. (Note: He’s speaking as Nefarious at this point.) The confident James says sure, why not?

Dude, have you ever seen a horror movie?

A priest shows up to talk to Edward, who, while as Nefarious, screams and says he isn’t welcome — until the priest assures him that the Catholic Church long ago evolved to believe that most of what people think of as possessions are in fact forms of mental illness.

This renders the priest’s faith impotent, of course — it reminded me of the showdown between the priest and Barlow the vampire in “ Salem’s Lot ” — and Edward settles down, knowing he has nothing to fear from him.

It’s a bit much.

Again, subtlety is not the film’s strong point. Neither is casting.

Using horror to tell a faith-based story is interesting, if not successful

Flanery is the most interesting thing in the movie, as Edward/Nefarious torments the doctor. Belfi comes off as more bland, though so would anyone acting opposite Flanery.

Using the horror genre to tell a faith-based story is an interesting idea, even if it doesn’t really work in the end. And then Beck shows up, and that’s the scariest thing of all.

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'Nefarious' 2 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Directors: Chuck Konzelman, Cary Solomon.

Cast: Sean Patrick Flanery, Jordan Belfi, James Healy Jr.

Rating: R for some disturbing violent content.

How to watch: In theaters April 14.

Reach Goodykoontz at  [email protected] . Facebook:  facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm . Twitter:  @goodyk . Subscribe to  the weekly movies newsletter .

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• DVD & Streaming
• Christian , Crime , Drama , Horror , Mystery/Suspense , Thriller

Content Caution

In Theaters

• April 14, 2023
• Sean Patrick Flanery as Edward Wayne Brady/Nefarious; Jordan Belfi as Dr. James Martin; Tom Ohmer as Warden Tom Moss

Home Release Date

• May 2, 2023
• Chuck Konzelman, Cary Solomon

Distributor

• Soli Deo Gloria Releasing

Movie Review

After 11 years on death row and many delays, serial killer Edward Wayne Brady is scheduled to be executed by electrocution in an Oklahoma prison. But before that justice can be meted out, a professional psychiatrist must certify that the convicted killer is, in fact, sane—a step that’s proving difficult to complete.

“Every time this guy Brady’s number comes up, something happens,” the prison’s warden, Tom Moss, tells Dr. James Martin, the doctor who’s just arrived to certify Brady’s sanity. Indeed, James’ own mentor, Dr. Alan Fischer, was supposed to have done it. But after meeting with Brady, Fischer took his own life.

The incarcerated killer is, Warden Moss warns James, a “master manipulator.” Then he adds, “Brady knows what’s coming. He’s playing the system. And if you allow him to, he’ll play you too.”

James is unperturbed. He’s a professional, after all. “Look, I get lied to all the time. Figuring out the truth behind the lie is what I get paid to do.”

But Dr. James Martin has never encountered anyone like Edward Wayne Brady. In fact, it’s not clear that the person James is speaking to is Edward at all .

“Death doesn’t scare me, James,” the convict tells James.

“And why is that?”

“Because I can’t die. You see James, I’m a demon. … [Edward is] merely my host body, which I inhabit.”

James, whom we soon learn is a staunch atheist, doesn’t buy Edward’s demonic possession story. But Edward—who tells James that his real name is Nefarious—is just as unperturbed as James was a few minutes before.

And, Nefarious says, he has a secret. A secret about James: “Before you leave here today, you will have committed three murders.”

“I don’t think so,” James says coolly.

“Has nothing to do with your thoughts, your wants, your yeses or your nos. It simply is. It’s a fact. It’ll happen because I say so.” And in the handful of hours that follow, Dr. James Martin might just discover whether Nefarious is who he insists he is.

Positive Elements

There’s little here that can be characterized as positive in the way we normally talk about characters’ moral virtue or choices. James is, in a way, a sympathetic character, because he quickly begins to realize that whatever is going on with Edward/Nefarious, it’s unlike anything he’s ever encountered.

But James himself is not particularly noble or good. He’s good at his job, certainly. But as Nefarious points out, he’s self-serving and focused on his own needs and wants, unwilling to sacrifice anything for the sake of others. And, it seems, the demon’s clear-eyed understanding of James’ character is deadly accurate.

What we could characterize as positive, then, is this cautionary tale’s main message: The devil and his underlings are not to be underestimated in their ability to deceive and destroy—especially when it comes to their capacity to nudge humans into terrible self-deception. And with that decidedly spiritual moral in mind, let’s move on to the next section, because we’ll have a lot to unpack there.

Spiritual Elements

The vast majority of the film’s hour-and-a-half runtime revolves around two men sitting across a table from each other, talking.

That might not seem very dramatic. But it is. In fact, as the stakes rise throughout the course of this discussion, we can feel James becoming quietly frantic. He initially tries to debunk the notion of demonic possession and the possibility that this is what he’s facing with Edward and Nefarious—who are, I should say, two completely distinct entities here. (James tries to explain it away as dissociative identity disorder.) Nefarious occasionally gives Edward a chance to speak, and invariably, the demonized man desperately tries to convince James that he’s been under the demon’s control for years.

Most of the time, though, Nefarious is in control of the conversation. And there’s a lot of it as the two of them discuss the reality of God, demons, the devil, heaven, hell, judgment, damnation, free will and the ways that demons manipulate humanity to accomplish their primary purpose: smearing and marring, mutilating and destroying those created in God’s image.

Nefarious unpacks the long-term strategy that demons use to influence and possess someone: “Control of a host body comes in degrees, each with its name and characteristics: extreme temptation, obsession, infestation, finally possession, full subjugation. We own him.”

Nefarious later returns to the idea that he’s been watching and grooming James to use him for James’ entire life. “I chose you, James. And ever since then, I’ve been watching you, analyzing you, observing you, studying you for your weaknesses.”

“From inside a prison cell?” James asks (and a good question, at that).

“Demons can only be one place at a time. But we can be any place we choose. Usually I’m here with Edward. The remaining time, I’m with you.”

Every time James thinks he’s somehow logically or rhetorically outflanked Nefarious, the demon simply laughs at him.

James, for example, proudly suggests that mankind has evolved past religious dogma to a more enlightened, progressive understanding of reality. Freedom , he calls it. “We’ve never been freer. Literacy is at an all-time high. We’re working to eliminate racism, intolerance, gender inequality. People can love whom the want, be who they want, do what they want. Diversity is no longer a dream. Hate speech is no longer tolerated. And politically, we’re reclaiming the moral high ground.”

Nefarious laughs: “James, I think I love you.” He goes on to say that the world has more slaves than ever before in history: “Forty-eight million slaves—half of them sex slaves. Hate speech? The irony is we didn’t even come up with that one. You did it all by yourself. Sometimes you amaze even us. Now there’s evil everywhere, and no one even cares.”

“Yeah, I don’t agree,” James counters.

“Proving that we achieved our goal. Slowly. With your movies, your TV, and your media. We desensitized you. Redirected your worldview. To the point that you can’t recognize evil when it’s right in front of your face. More to the point, James, you can’t even feel it when you’re doing it. As for winners and losers, whoa, whoa, whoa! That gets decided at the time of death. The exact numbers are a closely guarded secret, but there are more of you ending up in my master’s house than with the Enemy. A lot more, Jimmy.”

There’s a great deal more of such conversation throughout this tense film as James is forced to confront the possibility that perhaps his cherished beliefs—or lack thereof—are simply wrong.

Sexual Content

Nefarious knows James has gotten his current girlfriend pregnant.

Violent Content

Nefarious breaks his own fingers grotesquely at various points. Near the film’s end, we see that that his hand is badly bruised from those self-inflicted injuries.

Nefarious brags that through Edward, he’s killed 11 people: “Six convicted, one suspected, four that they don’t have the capacity to figure out.”

James’ mentor, Dr. Alan Fischer, commits suicide by jumping off a building after his interaction with Nefarious. We see him fall past a window, screaming.

Nefarious graphically describes how electrocution will affect Edward’s body: “He’ll urinate, defecate and vomit, all at the same time. The sickly sweet smell of burning flesh will permeate the chamber.” He goes on with more such details, finally concluding, “I can’t think of a better introduction to damnation. It’s so horrible it’s wonderful, James. Only crucifixion is worse, but that really wasn’t on the menu, was it?”

I had hoped that verbal description would suffice. But when Edward is executed—which feels like a forgone conclusion—the camera does indeed show us most of the horrible things Nefarious predicted. It’s a graphic, gratuitous, lengthy, disturbing scene that leaves Edward a smoking and burnt corpse. It definitely earns this film’s R-rating.

In the course of their conversations, the subject of abortion comes up (which has a deeply personal connection to James’ own story). Nefarious connects the modern-day practice of abortion to infant sacrifice in biblical times in a way that infuriates James. “The Creator creates, and we destroy. And we do all of it through you. We always have. Did you forget your history, Jimmy? Even in ancient times, the arch-demon Molech was celebrated by tossing infants into flaming bonfires.”

“What does this have to do with me?” James asks.

“Oh, nothing, James. Especially since the priests now wear surgical scrubs, the killing takes place in the womb, so there’s no screaming to be heard anyway, and the remains are tossed into a gas-fired crematorium. No, James, no, no, no. There’s no parallel whatsoever to you. Can you imagine the agony the Carpenter feels when we rip a child to pieces inside its own mother’s womb? ‘Cause that’s what we do, James. You and us. We do it together. … And all hell rejoices.”

Two physical altercations nearly leave another person dead by the end of the film, one involving a chain and suffocation, the other a gun pointed at someone’s head.

[ Spoiler Warning ] In a way, by the end, James is at least partially responsible for the deaths of three people, though not in ways he—or we—really see coming.

Crude or Profane Language

One use each of “d–n,” “d–ned,” “h—,” an unfinished “son of a—” and “What the heck?”

Drug and Alcohol Content

The prison warden tells James that he always buys a pack of cigarettes the day before an execution, then tosses whatever he hasn’t smoked after that. Accordingly, we see both the warden and James each smoke a couple of cigarettes.

Other Negative Elements

Nefarious is not your average thriller. Or horror movie. Or Christian movie. In fact, it’s not like much I’ve ever seen.

Christian movies often rely on chatty exposition in a way that can, at times, make them feel more like sermons than stories. We Christians, especially Protestants, tend to trust our words and clear theological answer s more than we trust images and unanswered questions . So we use lots of both.

There are a lot of words in this movie. I’d love to know how many, actually. But somehow, all that talking didn’t feel like a sermon to me—even though the demon Nefarious does plenty of sermonizing. Instead, it felt like a remarkably unnerving illustration of how Satan and his demons deceive, divide and destroy—all reinforced by tour de force acting performances by Sean Patrick Flanery (Edward/Nefarious) and Jordan Belfi (Dr. James Martin).

At the risk raising an eyebrow or two, I think this intense thriller feels like a second cousin of sorts to C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters , that famous work in which a senior demon explains to a junior demon exactly how to deceive humanity. Like Lewis’ demonic dialogue there, Nefarious also prompts and provokes us to ponder how our spiritual enemy lights the long fuse his dastardly deeds.

There’s a lot to unpack in this film. For some, I think it could be a redemptive conversation starter about spiritual reality and spiritual warfare.

That said, two cautions.

One, this movie is R-rated for a reason, namely, that electrocution scene at the end. It’s graphic, grisly and disturbing. It rightly warrants the restrictive rating this film has been given. Those images should be approached with caution and consideration and the knowledge that the climatic execution scene is on its way.

Second, pop-cultural depictions of demonic influence and activity always need to be weighed carefully from a theological perspective. I think this movie gets the big-picture details right and powerfully reminds us of them: We have a spiritual enemy who “only comes to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). This movie illustrates that truth powerfully. Still, I suspect that experts in the area of demonic influence might have some questions to ask about the details of how that phenomenon is fictionally represented here.

Nefarious is a provocative film, one that illustrates the cautionary counsel of 1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Whether or not you or your family members need to see this intriguing-but-disturbing film to be reminded of that truth is a question you’ll have to answer on your own.

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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Exposing the world to Satan’s agenda

This film has a lot in common with C.S. Lewis’ fictional The Screwtape Letters and was inspired by it—a book which attempts to reveal what Satan is all about using 31 letters written by a senior demon named Screwtape to his nephew, Wormwood (named after a star in the Book of Revelation), a younger and less experienced demon, charged with guiding a man called “the Patient” toward “Our Father Below” ( Satan ), and away from “the Enemy” ( God ).

What is a DEMONIAC ?

Is is reported that demon possession is growing throughout the world, and is a sign of the times prophecied in the Bible.

Serial murderer /killer

Demon possession as an attempted legal defense for murder

Is everything that a demon says true? Demons are always lying and deceiving by nature. It’s true that we can’t trust what demons say. In the two famous instances when demons spoke in the Gospels , namely the demoniac of Gadarenes (Mark 5:1-20) and the man in the synagogue (Mark 1:23-26), the demons were forced to speak the truth by the power of the Holy Spirit .

Who is SATAN, the enemy of God and all people? Answer

Is Satan A REAL PERSON that influences our world today? Is he affecting you? Answer

SATAN’S STRATEGY —What is one of Satan’s most successful strategies in dealing with followers of Christ? Answer

What are DEVILS and DEMONS in the Bible

What are DEMONS ?

DEMON POSSESSION and Influence—Can Christians be demon possessed? In what ways can Satan and his demons influence believers? Answer

Who is Satan , the enemy of God and all people?

About the fall of mankind to worldwide depravity

What is SIN AND WICKEDNESS? Is it just “bad people” that are sinners, or are YOU a sinner? Answer

Are you good enough to get to Heaven? Answer

How to witness to atheists

How can we know there’s a God? Answer

What if the cosmos is all that there is? Answer

If God made everything, who made God? Answer

Is Jesus Christ God? Answer

“Speak of the devil”

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness , against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” — Ephesians 6:12

T his film addresses the reality of evil and the apathy and false compassion mankind has in regards to evil. Jay Budziszewski, observes that real “compassion ought to make us visit the prisoner, dry out the alcoholic, help the pregnant girl prepare for the baby, and encourage the young homosexual to live chastely. But how much easier it is to forget the prisoner; give the drunk a drink, send the girl to the abortionist, and tell the kid to just give in. False compassion is a great deal less work than true.” “Nefarious,” starring Sean Patrick Flanery (“ The Boondock Saints ,” “Powder”) as Edward, a convicted serial killer, facing execution. In order to be executed he must be declared mentally competent. Enter Dr. James Martin ( Jordan Belfi ), a self proclaimed atheist whose predecessor committed suicide after interviewing Edward, who claims to be possessed by demons . This simple plot delivers quite an intricate look into the actuality of evil, sin and the spiritual warfare going dating back to the beginning of time.

The acting of Sean Patrick Flanery is captivating and his performance makes the film. He essentially plays 2 roles, you’ll find yourself having pity for the Edward character at the same time, and despise the Nefarious side of the same character. The support cast, including Glenn Beck, a Mormon, while small, is effective for keeping audience interest and supporting the plot.

What the film got right.

The film does a Biblically accurate job in portraying what evil is and how the world has become indifferent to it, accepting of it and even celebrating it, leaving us with a makeshift, self-created morals paying homage to the god of self. Perfectly exhibiting how the first lie in the garden, plays out the current spiritual warfare. Doubting the word of God will allow you to make yourself out to be god, where we decide good from evil in our own eyes. This lie has influenced great evils throughout our history to this day. The Nefarious character recounts his fall; it all points to something as simple as Satan hates us because God created us in His image.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman , “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden ’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden , God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die .’” The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise , she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings. — Genesis 3:1-7

What is DEATH? and WHY does it exist? Answer in the Bible

What is the FINAL JUDGMENT? and WHAT do you need to know about it? Answer

What is ETERNAL LIFE ? and what does the Bible say about it?

What is ETERNAL DEATH ?

The film does a great job of showing how foolish we are to even think that we can have be truly good without God.

Where the film misses the mark.

The film does convey evilness clearly. However, it doesn’t point people to Jesus . It points people to a sort of a vague theism which is open ended, and may have been the intent. The doctor character has this life-altering encounter with the demon(s) and is shown the truth of sin and his own sinfulness and how demons truly despise humans because we are made in the image of God. How we foolishly have become gods in our own eyes because we turned our back to the truth of God and His Word.

However, after this encounter the doctor actually becomes possessed by the Nefarious, and even after all he experienced he walks away an agnostic of sorts, just trying to do his best to warn people about demons, but with no hope , no salvation . It almost comes off as if the creators of the film didn’t want to appear too Biblical, even though it tackles themes like abortion , end of life euthanasia, sexual morality , Ouija board play and hate speech, Woke nonsense, etc. Emphasizing how slowly giving into temptations over and over and over again, a person can become possessed by those sins. It goes far, but not far enough in pointing people to Christ .

In addition to the adult themes mentioned, there is smoking, the words h*ll and d*mn, and there is an execution shown in detail.

As for recommendation, if you are a Christian this movie has the potential to convict you out of complacency. Spiritual warfare is all around us, every day, all the time, BUT in the midst of darkness . There is The Way , The Truth , The Life , in Jesus Christ , the Word made flesh , the Creator of all things visible and invisible. He offers forgiveness of our sins as a free gift through repentance and faith in Him.

• Violence: Heavy
• Sex: Moderately Heavy
• Occult: Heavy
• Vulgar/Crude language: Moderate
• Profane language: Minor
• Nudity: Minor
• Drugs/Alcohol: Mild
• Wokeism: None

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers .

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

Opinion: Maybe I’m the ‘Nefarious’ target audience, but I wasn’t moved

• Rachelle Chase is a Des Moines Register columnist.

I stumbled upon the movie "Nefarious" and decided to go see it. It wasn’t the movie itself that intrigued me enough to decide to go see it. It was the marketing of the movie.

“Nefarious” is being marketed as a horror film. Though “Christian” and “faith-based” appeared in reviews, the words were missing from the movie description, posters, and theater advertising.

I was curious: How could you omit those words from all marketing, label “Nefarious” a horror movie, and expect non-religious viewers to pick-up its intended message?

So I watched the film, failed to pick up any belief-changing message, then researched what the producers had expected me to.

I was supposed to see deeper meaning in the trailer

On the day of his scheduled execution, a convicted serial killer gets a psychiatric evaluation during which he claims he is a demon, and further claims that before their time is over, the psychiatrist will commit three murders of his own. Synposis of ”Nefarious” from Rotten Tomatoes

More: 'Nefarious' uses horror to tell a faith-based story. But Glenn Beck's cameo is really scary

"Everything in the trailer is in the movie," said Steve Deace, the Des Moines-based nationally syndicated streaming talk show host who is an executive producer of the film, in an interview with The Family Leader . "It’s just not presented in the trailer the way that it actually is in the movie. So everything is being done here subversively. We are attempting to reach an audience that desperately needs the truth of what we believe before it is too late. And they’re going to get it.”

"Subversive" is a scary word. It brings to (my) mind the '80s, when people accused metal bands of hiding satanic messages in songs that they alleged were revealed when vinyl records were played backward. Unless “the truth” Deace wants to share was hidden in the trailer like that, the trailer I watched didn’t seem subversive.

Instead, the trailer seemed like good marketing, piecing together the action clips to add suspense and tension, despite the fact that seemingly 95% of the “action” in the actual movie is talking.

And, boy, do they talk. Nefarious (Sean Patrick Flanery) is a demon who inhabits the body of Edward, whom he has forced to commit 11 murders. Dr. James Martin (Jordan Belfi) is, according to Deace "a left-wing, atheist psychiatrist, because other than Jordan Peterson, there are no other kinds of those, apparently." The two meet in prison on Edward's execution day for Martin to determine if Edward is mentally competent to be executed, and they talk for about 40-plus minutes straight, though it's mainly Nefarious talking and a doubting Martin asking questions.

After 30 minutes, the “worldview” was supposed to make me question my beliefs

“Make no mistake," Deace said in the same interview, "you will see, particularly when you get about 30 minutes into the film, once we feel like the unbeliever is emotionally connected to the story, we flip the script on them, and the worldview of the movie comes out and it flies its colors boldly the whole rest of the film.”

I didn't feel “emotionally connected.” But Flanery's performance as he switched from demon to tortured Edward kept me watching while Belfi’s “fish-out-of-water” reactions to Nefarious kept me slightly amused.

Then I felt the flip of the switch Deace mentioned when Nefarious stopped preaching in generalities and channeled a conservative religious worldview.

More by Rachelle: LGBTQ Ugandans already suffer imprisonment, torture. Now they could face the death penalty.

First was the scene where Nefarious accuses Martin of murdering his elderly mother through "death with dignity, euthanasia, assisted suicide." Then, a long scene where Nefarious beats Martin down on the issue of abortion, instilling a sense of panic and guilt in Martin for his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend's abortion that I didn’t find believable.

Then, there's this dialogue that gets in a culture war dig. Martin makes an idealistic statement that no one I know would ever make in real life: "We've never been freer," he says. "Literacy is at an all-time high. We're working to eliminate racism, intolerance, gender inequality. People can love who they want, be who they want, do what they want. Diversity is no longer a dream, hate speech is no longer tolerated, and politically, we're reclaiming the moral high ground."

Nefarious' rebuttal is weak, directly addressing only literacy before segueing into a disdainful rant that seeks to communicate the screenwriter's opinion instead of addressing Martin's points: "James, the average high school graduate reads at a sixth-grade level. Your basketball players making 30 million a year decrying racism all while wearing sneakers made from slave labor. Here's something for you. Right now. Your world currently has 40 million slaves, more than the Romans had at the height of their empire. Want to know the best part though? Half of those, half, are sex slaves. As for hate speech, you want to hear some irony? We didn't even come up with that one. You did it all by yourself. Sometimes you amaze even us."

Nothing here, nor in the film, posed a compelling argument that caused me to question anything, other than, on occasion trying to follow Nefarious’ stream-of-consciousness reasoning.  

“The truth” was supposed to rock my world.

Was "Nefarious" subversive while I was watching it? That is, as someone who isn’t immersed in conservative Christianity and who knew little beforehand about the people who produced the film, did their “truth” unconsciously infiltrate my psyche and take over my beliefs?

No. Instead, “the truth” went way over my head.

More by Rachelle: Trailblazers & Trendsetters: Basi Affia launches Iowa's first Black comic book company

In a review on Bounding Into Comics , Jacob Smith writes, “Belfi plays a psychiatrist … and his character, at least in one aspect, represents the secular world coming to terms with the evil he unwittingly helped create or at least created by his willful ignorance.”

Really? I totally missed that Belfi represented all that.

“This movie is a thriller," Deace said, "but it is with the intent of grabbing the culture by the throat and saying to them, you’re about right to the lip, man, the tape line of the mouth of madness. If you take one more step, you’re belly-flopping and not coming back.”

OK. I can’t speak to the film’s effects on everybody, but nothing that played out on the screen convinced me of the error of my beliefs or had me perched on the edge of a precipice.

Conclusion: A great movie for conservative Christians, not for me

I think those with a conservative Christian outlook will relate to the world view references, appreciate the novelty of a demon as the messenger, and see "Nefarious" as a movie of great meaning and depth, one they won't forget.

While the acting kept me watching, by the end, I wondered what was the point of what I'd watched. But after watching some conservative talk shows to better understand the intent of what I was supposed to get and want to discuss, I want to un-see "Nefarious," forget it, and get my money back.

Rachelle Chase is an author and an  opinion columnist , who's also launched a new column, Trailblazers & Trendsetters, at the Des Moines Register. Follow Rachelle at facebook.com/rachelle.chase.author   or email her at [email protected] .

"Only God Can Thwart Demonic Plans"

What You Need To Know:

Miscellaneous Immorality: Demon refers to his “master,” Satan, expresses jealousy, hostility and hatred toward God, Jesus and mankind.

More Detail:

NEFARIOUS is a supernatural horror movie about a skeptical psychiatrist assigned to visit a condemned serial killer to see if he’s sane enough to be executed, but the prisoner tells the psychiatrist that he’s a demon, and the psychiatrist asks for proof.

The movie opens with one psychiatrist committing suicide by jumping out a window. Cut to another psychiatrist, Dr. James Martin, taking the dead psychiatrist’s place. Martin is entering a prison to interview a condemned serial killer, Edward Wayne Brady, before his scheduled execution at 11 pm. The warden wants Martin to declare Brady sane so that the execution can take place as scheduled. He gives Martin until 4 pm to decide.

However, when Martin starts to interrogate Brady, Brady tells Martin that he’s actually taking to a demon calling himself Nefarious. The demon claims that his possession of Brady took place in stages since he was a child but says that Brady is now totally under his control. Martin asks Nefarious to talk to Brady, and Brady is a whimpering, pitiable creature.

Martin is still skeptical, however. He asks Nefarious to give him proof that he’s really a demon, but Martin gets more than he bargained for by making such a foolish demand.

NEFARIOUS is an intense, spooky thriller with a well-written script and a few good twists. Sean Patrick Flanery and Jordan Belfi as Nefarious and the psychiatrist, Dr. Martin, have to hold up the story since most of the movie involves their characters doing verbal battle. They do a great job, which also means that the movie is directed well.

NEFARIOUS has a strong Christian worldview that dramatically depicts the age-old battle between God and Satan’s world of demonic evil. God is clearly more powerful, however. For example, in one scene a character appeals to God for help against a demonic power, and God performs a miracle, answering the prayer.

NEFARIOUS contains a very strong, intense execution scene. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution. The movie also has three relatively light obscenities and some scary conversations with a man who claims to be a demon. Eventually, the demon’s plans are thwarted, but in an unexpected way that involves an Act of God.

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‘Nefarious’ (2023) Review – A Thought-Provoking Supernatural Horror Exercise In Morality

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If you have seen the trailer for Nefarious  it is easy to dismiss this film as just another cookie-cutter horror movie to be released during the spring season. You would be making a serious mistake by thinking that.

Nefarious Film Poster

What if I were to tell you that this is a Christian film within the horror genre? Some of you may react negatively because one of the biggest criticisms about modern Christian films is that the portrayals of real life are so overwhelmingly uplifting that it borders on parody.

It is rare to see a Christian film or even a modern Christian sermon that covers the topic of sin. Whenever anyone shines a light on the evils that consume our world every day, people tend to get uncomfortable in the face of defined definitions of right and wrong.

As a result, most Christian content won’t even highlight society’s issues of immorality because the belief is that it’s much easier to win people over being uplifting rather than being truthful.

Not only does this film stand apart with its strong Christian background, but it also eschews the Blum House style of horror films about a cliché portrayal of demons with mediocre plots highlighted by cheap actors that leads to a solid 90 minutes of jump scares. The genre has become so formulaic that audiences don’t even react to it due to its repetitiveness.

Nefarious  is a film that takes a different path altogether.

Jordan Belfi as Dr. James Martin and Tom Ohmer as Warden Moss in Nefarious (2023)

The premise of the film is about a man, Edward Wayne Brady, sitting on death row awaiting the last moments of his life after committing a series of horrible murders.

However, Brady (Sean Patrick Flanery), claims to be a demon as he speaks with psychiatrist Dr. James Martin (Jordan Belfi), who has been ordered to determine whether Brady is mentally fit to withstand execution. Brady, who refers to himself as Nefarious, tells the doctor that by the end of the day he will be responsible for the death of at least three people.

Sean Patrick Flanery as Nefarious in Nefarious

If I were to tell you that this was a Christian film you would be reluctant to believe it but Nefarious is one of the most creative films about faith and the spiritual war on our souls to come out over the last few decades. Nefarious is a character study on the absence of faith and the destruction of it and how one plays into the hands of another.

Everyone reading this has heard of the term “culture wars” when describing the effects that entertainment has on our society. Nefarious lives by the creed that we are not in a “culture war” but a “spiritual war” for the souls of every human being. Forget everything you know about modern horror films when discussing this movie because the rules of secular Hollywood do not apply here.

Nefarious is a thinking man’s movie that relies on the human fears of mortality while questioning various atheistic and secular views of morality all while wrapped in the question of whether Brady is really the demon he claims to be or the ravings of a mad man.

Sean Patrick Flanery is menacing as the character of Nefarious and he sells the seriousness of the plot by making audiences question whether he’s telling the truth about who he is or if he’s actually mentally unstable.

This menacing nature does not rely on camera tricks and jump scares but rather Flanery’s presence and his ability to channel multiple personas. His performance is so well done it will make believers and non-believers question their own morality in the face of direct confrontation with a being claiming to be a demon.

While Flanery’s portrayal as Brady and Nefarious is top notch, his foil, Jordan Belfi also delivers. Belfi plays a psychiatrist who is the straight man for this supernatural encounter and his character, at least in one aspect, represents the secular world coming to terms with the evil he unwittingly helped create or at least created by his willful ignorance.

Sean Patrick Flanery as Edward Wayne Brady/ Nefarious and Jordan Belfi as Dr. James Martin in Nefarious (2023)

To ramp up the intensity between the two, the majority of the film takes place in a one-room two character bottle that relies on gripping audiences with masterful dialogue and a showcase in character-to-character storytelling.

The only downside here is the last 10 to 15 minutes of run time loses its momentum once the one on one character dynamic has been removed from the equation. This causes the story to drag on creating the cinematic equivalent of a rough landing to an otherwise smooth flight.

Jordan Belfi as Dr. James Martin in Nefarious

The Verdict

There are not going to be very many films released this year that are going to make you think on the level of Nefarious . It is a film that is not only entertaining, but also makes you question what side of the battle between good and evil you are truly on.

‘Nefarious’ is one of the best movies to come out in 2023 and at this point should be considered one of the best movies of the year.

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Nefarious outperforms., audience loves it critics hate it that tells you enough about society, the demonic is alive and active in our present day, gripping psychological thriller that tells the truth about evil in this world., see this movie - nefarous, finally some truth about the world we are leaving for our children., captivates your attention the entire time, demonic & disturbing, sobering for all.

I feel like I’m beginning to repeat myself. I need a button I can press at the beginning of my reviews of Christian movies that writes out the first three paragraphs for me, usually summarized as “Christian movies aren’t good.” I don’t say that to deride fellow Christians but as a reality check. The “Christian” genre, having emerged from films like Facing The Giants, War Room, and God’s Not Dead has not aged well, and its relative prominence in the box office has meant that a generation of secular peoples have sadly received their introduction to our faith through Kevin Sorbo screaming “I hate God!!”

Content Guide

Violence/Scary Images:  The film is a horror movie with some gruesome moments, including a man breaking his own finger, a man being choked with a chain, and a man’s execution being depicted in somewhat gruesome detail. Language/Crude Humor: Some mild language throughout including h*** and d***. Drug/Alcohol References:  Heavy smoking. Sexual Content:  A key scene involves a discussion of abortion and relationships. Spiritual Content:  The film explores the conceptions of demonic possession, damnation, Hell, and the theology of why demons fight God. Other Negative Content : The film contains partisan content that may alienate some viewers. Positive Content:  Some thoughtful scenes and discussion of sin, evil, temptation, and death.

The question the “Christian” film genre evokes with every new release for me is not, “Did it poorly represent Christ’s word?” so much as it is, “Will anyone who isn’t already part of the faith be convinced by it?”. And the answer is always “No,” considering the hundreds of YouTube atheists and secular movie review channels that have roundly mocked films like Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas and the Nic Cage Left Behind remake. These films are a laughing stock, and people outside the faith find them shallow, condescending, and boring.

However, there has been a notable uptake this year. Jesus Revolution was slightly better received than most films of its genre, thanks in part to a more welcoming and less confrontational approach to apologetics, and generally better writing and performances. Plus, the popularity of The Chosen continues to multiply. If there were ever a time for new films in the genre to emerge more mature and fully formed, it is now. I went into Nefarious with a fair amount of curiosity, for this reason.

Nefarious is a horror/drama created in part by American right-wing talk show host Steve Deace, an author and radio host, and partnered with the filmmakers behind the pro-life film Unplanned . It functions as something of a prequel to Deace’s previous 2016 book A Nefarious Plot , which is a kind of partisan homage to The Screwtape Letters that explores how modern politics and secular modernity function as a means for demons to tempt Americans towards eternal damnation through political division and progressive values.

Much of your opinion on a film like Nefarious is ultimately going to depend on your ability to stomach the overtly partisan nature of the proceedings. This is not to say it is bad. Despite being a low-budget horror film with no-name actors, there are actually a handful of scenes that do a particularly good job with this sort of material, leaning into the disturbing and horrifying subtextual implications of the scene and capturing the horrific reality of sin, death, and damnation.

The film version is set on the cusp of an execution. Edward Wayne Brady (Sean Patrick Flanery) is a convicted mass murderer waiting to be executed when the state of Oklahoma requests a last-minute psychological evaluation to determine if he is mentally fit to stand execution. Dr. James Martin (Jordan Belfi) arrives to handle the tedious job but quickly discovers he is in over his head, as Brady declares his true name is Nefarious, and that he is possessed by a demon.

The secular modern doctor is taken for a ride as the alleged demon begins to unfurl his true identity and means, explaining the theology of Hell and his purpose in using Dr. Martin to advance the ends of his master and undo the sacrificial work of “the carpenter”, although the esteemed doctor is unconvinced of the demon’s claims and is eager to provide a clear psychological evaluation that explains the situation away, at least initially.

Sean Patrick Flanery in particular does honorable work playing the dual role of Nefarious and Brady, capturing both the malevolent and brilliant entity with near-total hold over the body and mind he is inhabiting, while also allowing the poor soul trapped inside to occasionally surface for moments of pathos; a stirring and painful portrayal of the way that sin overpowers and overcomes the will until the humanity beneath is left to suffering, while the demon harms him in mundane and playful ways.

The movie benefits from leaning into the darkness of its story, as it does not shy away from the spiritual realities of damnation and death. The movie conjures scenes that actually are quite disturbing and unsettling, reminding viewers that not every soul will be saved and that an eternity in Hell is a very real and horrific possibility within the Christian worldview. This does come at the expense of Dr. Martin mostly being a cipher for other characters to bounce off of without presenting much of a challenge.

Again though, the question remains of how such a film would affect someone who isn’t already a conservative Christian. One of the only non-Christian online reviews of Nefarious comes from the blog Horror Obsessive , which gleefully dismisses the film as a shallow 90-minute scare presentation full of jabs at progressivism and propaganda. “ Nefarious’  thematic viewpoint of an atheist being condescended to by a demon is childish and trite. Anyone expecting to be philosophically challenged can save their dime, while curious horror fans will likely walk out and get a refund anyway.”

While I disagree with a great deal of his review—particularly considering how much of his language is flowing with shallow glibness about “religious fanaticism” and outlines the numerous cliche ways American Christians are cruel, hateful hypocrites—I can’t blame him for being unconvinced. If this movie sounds interesting, you will probably like Nefarious . I liked it better than most “Christian” films, but the genre remains very far away from scaling the heights of Christian art.

+ Some solid performances + Well executed and thematically disturbing scenes

- Some intellectually shallow talking points - Politically partisan slants and appearances by conservative talk show hosts - Cheap production design

The Bottom Line

Nefarious falls into most of the same traps that "Christian" films usually fall into—providing a handful of excellent components but failing to be compelling to those who aren't already part of the choir. The film's genre trappings and tone allow it to make improvements on the genre, but it doesn't break new ground.

Tyler Hummel

As someone who left the Christian fundy faith, I saw this without knowing what it was. it was ok. acting good. Yes it’s preachy. But if that’s what they want to do, fine. What I find offensive is how they took something out of context from another faith (Thelema) and made it sound evil… when the demon sneers back about the abortion, “do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law!” That’s from Crowley but they cut it in half. The full quote is: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law, Love is the Law, Love under will.” Now it’s not so villainous. It’s the equivalent of making a puff movie depicting all Christians as racist KKK members, and the demon sneers a quote from Paul, “slaves obey your masters.” How’d that go over with Christians? See if it wouldn’t be nice to experience, you shouldn’t dish it out.

THE MOVIE SHOWS HOW SATAN WORK’S TO DESTROY PEOPLE, LIKE GODS WORD SAYS, SATAN GOES ABOUT LIKE A ROARING LION LOOKING TO DEVOUR AND DESTROY. EXACTLY HOW SATAN WORKS😁😁😁

For atheists everything that smells to Christianity is shallow and not even worthy to watch it.

SPF is a God. Kill it all to hell if you’d like, the man picks projects with substance

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‘A Demonic Takeover of America’: ‘Nefarious’ Horror-Thriller About Possessed Serial Killer Goes Where Faith Films Have Never Gone Before

As faith and family-friendly films continue to grow and develop, unique subgenres are emerging, with the new film “Nefarious” exemplifying one such evolution.

Listen to the latest episode of CBN’s Quick Start podcast 👇

The horror film is an R-rated thriller but with a spiritual aim: helping the viewer understand real-life evil exists — and that the battles described in Scripture are very real and palpable.

“On the day of his scheduled execution, a convicted serial killer gets a psychiatric evaluation during which he claims he is a demon, and further claims that before their time is over, the psychiatrist will commit three murders of his own,” the synopsis reads .

Author and radio host Steve Deace, whose books are the basis for the film and who executive produced the project, told CBN’s Faithwire he came up with the idea of novelizing stories of evil while in Washington, D.C., doing a publicity tour.

“Instead of just the temptation of individuals,” Deace said he found himself exploring a plotline about the “takedown of an entire culture.”

“I realized that I came to Washington, D.C., to get inspired to write a book about a demonic takeover of America, because, literally, where else in America is there a better place to get inspired about a demonic takeover of America than Washington, D.C.?” Deace quipped.

While “Nefarious” is a fictional story, Deace said it’s very much based on the real-life spiritual battles unfolding today and throughout human history. And considering the nation’s immoral trajectory, he said he wants to shed light on these issues.

“I married off my oldest daughter last fall,” he said. “My youngest daughter’s going to graduate from high school here in a couple of months. I’m gonna have grandkids [eventually].”

Deace continued, “Cultures that are in the tailspin that we’re in right now don’t have long-term futures. And so I’m worried about that.”

He said this worry was shared by everyone who worked on “Nefarious,” noting the film team included Protestants, Catholics, and believers of other stripes.

“We all have one thing in common,” he said. “America, right now, is at the lip of the mouth of madness and it’s about to belly flop into the pit, and that’s a jump that, when a culture makes, it doesn’t come back.”

Deace hopes “Nefarious” does something most Christian films haven’t ventured to try: create an exciting thriller the culture loves — but one that comes from a Christian worldview.

Find out more about “Nefarious,” which opens April 14 in theaters nationwide.

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for  Faithwire’s daily newsletter  and download the  CBN News app , developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

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‘nefarious’: from strange ailments to car accidents, the spiritual warfare that occurred while filming.

When “Nefarious” directors Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman first conceived of bringing the spiritual thriller to the big screen, they knew they would face unseen opposition. But the duo didn’t know just how much, in their words, “the devil didn’t want this movie to be made.”

“We had a friend tell us a long time ago, ‘For those people that don't believe in the devil, declare war against him and see what happens,’” Solomon said. “Well, we declared war against the devil for the Lord, and I will say that honestly, from the first moment we wrote the script, weird, crazy things began to happen.”

Inspired by the book A Nefarious Plot by New York Times bestselling author Steve Deace, the filmmakers, who are also behind the pro-life film “Unplanned,” described “Nefarious” as a cross between C.S. Lewis’ novel The Screwtape Letters and the film “Silence of the Lambs.”

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The horror-thriller film follows a convicted serial killer (Sean Patrick Flannery) who, on the day of his scheduled execution, must be certified as mentally competent by a court-ordered psychiatrist, Dr. James Martin (Jordan Belfi). But Martin is surprised to discover that the killer is possessed by a demon, Nefarious, who tells him that before the day is over, the psychiatrist will have committed three murders of his own.

“As a storm gathers outside the prison, Nefarious chips away at Dr. Martin’s resolve and conviction, confounding and unsettling him so much that he begins to doubt his own sanity and fears for his life,” reads the film description. “As the two face off, they deliver crackling energy and a series of disturbing preternatural revelations propelling them to an inexorable, astounding conclusion.”

And from petty inconveniences, like a squirrel breaking into their Airbnb and destroying a Nativity set to larger issues, like the roof blowing off their office and strange ailments afflicting the cast and crew during filming, the creators said the spiritual warfare taking place throughout the making of “Nefarious” was undeniable. 

“The first day Steve Deace visited the set, he got very sick with a cyst under his arm. Suddenly, it disappears,” Konzelman said. “Literally, the morning before the theatrical premiere, it comes back. By nightfall, he’s in the ER, mumbling and muttering incoherently. He was near death and had a live infection, MRSA in his bloodstream — it was everywhere, and he had to undergo surgery. He almost died.”

In another instance, a Catholic priest trained in exorcisms and spiritual battles hired to be on set with the crew had to undergo an emergency appendectomy during shooting: “His appendix burst during filming and he almost died,” the filmmakers recalled. “The surgeon told him, ‘If you got here an hour later you would not be here.’”

And in the first 11 days of shooting, eight crew members got in severe car accidents — “and we didn’t have a big crew,” Solomon said — yet not a single person was injured. 

“And these stories are just the tip of the iceberg,” the filmmaker said. “The adversary does what he does, but the Lord does what He does. In other words, ‘You want to stop the movie, but I'm going to protect the people doing the movie and make sure they keep going on.’”

The duo reflected on some of the strange goings-on that continued to take place in theaters once the film opened: “It was a constant struggle in the theaters,” Solomon said. “The fire alarm goes off in multiple theaters across the nation, computers would malfunction so people couldn’t buy tickets, it would show a theater was sold out, but it wasn’t.”

Most unnervingly, there were numerous reports of “people growling and vomiting in the theater and not remembering any of it when they woke up,” Kozelman added.

“The devil literally didn't want us to do it from page one," he said. "But we pushed through; the Lord said, ‘Keep pushing.’ The reason we did it, honestly, was the Holy Spirit basically called us to do it. We prayed on it — we prayed on everything — and just kept on moving forward. … When you go through an experience like this, your faith in God goes up, and so does your understanding that the devil is real.”

Despite ongoing spiritual opposition, “Nefarious” has seen astounding success: The film has received a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed a whopping $1.3 million in its opening weekend despite being shown in only 933 theaters and opening against two other horror films.

“The movie is surviving and growing,” Konzelman said. “It's anointed. It’s God bringing the truth like a lion; unchain the lion, let him out of the cage and the truth — you don't need to defend it. It will defend itself.”

“I don't know how the Spirit works, but I know it's working on this film,” he added.

The film received an R rating, although it does not feature any explicit language or sexual content. Solomon said the rating was “political,” adding: “They gave us an ‘R’ rating for the breaking of a finger. Disney cartoons have more stuff than that. But they knew Christians wouldn’t go see the movie if it had an ‘R’ rating.”

Even the film’s poster — which depicts a demonic face — and its listing as a “horror-thriller film” were something of a “Trojan horse” in the hope of attracting nonbelievers and “those who are in trouble with the devil.”

“It was a gutsy call on our part,” the filmmakers said.

Already, Solomon and Konzelman have heard numerous stories of people being saved, forgiving abusers or healing from trauma after watching “Nefarious” — stories that have brought them to tears. The pair said they believe the film is resonating with audiences due to the “darkness” increasingly permeating society. 

“I defy anyone to walk out their front door and say that they don't feel that something is wrong,” Solomon said. “I think a lot of people are seeing the reflection of evil, and they're realizing, ‘This makes perfect sense. God loves me, the devil hates me. The hater is going to try and hurt me. God is going to try and help me,’ and so they shift to God’s side. And I think it is powerful.”

“I think it's a sign of our times that literally, we had to use a demon to preach the Gospel. If we used a priest in that role, or a pastor in that role, no one would be interested. But because the world has fallen into a dark place, the demon is preaching the Gospel. … We don’t use the demon in a malicious way against God, his anger and his malice validate the fact that [God is real].”

Looking ahead, the filmmakers said they want to use their talents to continue telling stories that highlight God’s goodness and expose the reality of the devil, even if it means going through spiritual warfare.

“Everyone says, ‘I'm willing to suffer,’ until it’s really rough and it’s terrible,” Konzelman reflected. “And you think, what am I doing? Why am I going through this? But then you eventually settle down and you think, ‘I'm going through this because this is the battle. It's a battle between good and evil, and the Lord has called us.”

Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]

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Nefarious Reviews

Perhaps its worst mistake is categorizing it as a horror film. It has nothing to do with the genre... [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 30, 2023

A prefabricated plot with a predictable conclusion, cardboard characters, and an aesthetic devoid of that imagery with which Bergman dressed his stories about the dark contours of belief. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 30, 2023

Although it has a strong beginning and a great premise, the truly terrifying part is watching this movie go off the rails. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 10, 2023

A psychological thriller that gets bogged down in its own game. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Nov 9, 2023

A theological, philosophical, and metaphysical debate couched in the psychological thriller genre. The world currently needs this debate of atheism vs. a creation featuring a rock-solid moral underpinning that never changes due to human whims.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Jun 27, 2023

After kicking things off with a pretty solid fake out, the film settles into a repetitive rhythm that quickly becomes tiresome.

Full Review | Jun 19, 2023

A battle of wits between a psychiatrist and possible demon makes for a tense film.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Apr 24, 2023

Nefarious has been inaccurately described as a horror movie. It's a poorly made psychological drama about a death row inmate, with no real scares and too much over-acting. As this dull movie drones on, it becomes preachy propaganda for right-wing beliefs.

Full Review | Apr 23, 2023

Nefarious advertises itself as a possession thriller but pulls a bait & switch to deliver a Christian and Conservative propaganda piece. Flanery does his best to elevate what is otherwise a 90 minute sermon on abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Apr 22, 2023

On the whole, the script, the ­cinematography, and the acting are all well done—but the ending falls apart with a clichéd climax to the action and an injudicious epilogue.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 21, 2023

If you like your demons on the preachy side, then you may enjoy [this movie]. The rest of us will find [it]...tedious, heavy-handed and indoctrinating.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.25/5 | Apr 20, 2023

The film's heavy-handed and bogus message tells us that Hollywood is immoral because it acts to corrupt its viewer's minds.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Apr 18, 2023

Aside from a few questionable decisions, Nefarious is interesting enough to give it a watch. Just leave prejudice behind and enjoy the possession take they're going for.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.8/5 | Apr 17, 2023

The only thing not covered in this Christo-fascist manifesto of a movie is “guns.”

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 16, 2023

Well-acted and with decent production values, this faith-based thriller unfortunately gets stuck in its two-person back-and-forth sermoning, making it all too obvious what the outcome will be.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 15, 2023

While there are moments of intensity in Nefarious, there isn't a moment in the film that feels like cinematic horror unless you're talking about one of those evangelical haunted houses where demons pop out of the walls to warn of the evils of the world.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.0/4.0 | Apr 15, 2023

Nefarious builds to a howler of a climax that delivers exactly what you’d anticipate from the makers of God’s Not Dead, just in an even more preposterous way. The big scene would be perfect for an Airplane!-style spoof of evangelical-themed films.

Full Review | Original Score: 0.5/4 | Apr 14, 2023

Character-based thriller uses spare setting for big-time chills sans gore.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 14, 2023

Nefarious may not be great filmmaking, but it is confident filmmaking, and sometimes that can get you exactly where you want to go.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 13, 2023

Subtlety is not the film’s strong point. Neither is casting.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 13, 2023

Is The Documentary Nefarious A Christian Movie?

The hard-hitting 2011 documentary Nefarious: Merchant of Souls explores the disturbing realities of sex trafficking and the modern slave trade. With its gut-wrenching tales of abuse and exploitation, Nefarious aims to raise awareness and inspire action.

But with its Christian production company and targeted messaging, some question if Nefarious should be viewed as a faith-based film. If you need a quick answer: While not overtly labeled a Christian movie, Nefarious was created by Christians for a Christian audience to promote faith-driven activism against injustice.

Its moral message aligns with Christian values but comes from a human rights perspective.

In this in-depth article, we’ll examine the origins and content of Nefarious, analyzing how its production background, messaging, and reception tie into Christianity. Looking at the film from several angles, we’ll determine what qualifies it as a Christian movie or simply a film promoting compassion compatible with that faith.

Production and Distribution Rooted in Christian Networks

The documentary film Nefarious, which delves into the dark world of human trafficking, has strong ties to the Christian community both in its production and distribution. The filmmakers behind Nefarious are evangelical Christians who sought to mobilize the faith community and raise awareness about this pressing issue.

Filmmakers are evangelical Christians wanting to mobilize the faith community

The filmmakers of Nefarious, Benjamin Nolot and Jason Pamer, have a deep-rooted faith that motivated them to tackle the issue of human trafficking. As committed Christians, they wanted to use their skills and platform to bring attention to this global problem and inspire action within their own community.

Their faith played a significant role in shaping the documentary’s narrative and messaging, making it resonate strongly with Christian audiences.

Initial distribution targeted Christian conferences, churches, colleges

When Nefarious was first released, the filmmakers strategically targeted Christian conferences, churches, and colleges as their primary distribution channels. They recognized that these venues would provide the ideal platform to engage with the faith community and spark conversations about the issue of human trafficking.

By screening the documentary at these events, they were able to reach a large and receptive audience, igniting a passion for change and encouraging individuals to get involved.

Mainstream outlets like Netflix picked it up later

Although Nefarious initially gained traction within Christian networks, its impact extended far beyond these communities. The documentary’s powerful message and compelling storytelling caught the attention of mainstream outlets, including popular streaming platform Netflix.

This wider distribution allowed Nefarious to reach a broader audience, raising awareness about human trafficking among viewers who may not have been exposed to the issue otherwise.

Messaging Aligns with Christian Ethics on Sex and Justice

The documentary Nefarious addresses the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and its impact on individuals and society. While the film does not explicitly label itself as a Christian movie, its messaging aligns closely with Christian ethics on sex and justice.

Film condemns commercial sexual exploitation as morally wrong

Nefarious takes a strong stance against the commercial sexual exploitation industry, highlighting its moral wrongness. The film exposes the dark underbelly of sex trafficking and the devastating effects it has on the lives of victims.

By shedding light on this issue, Nefarious appeals to Christian values that emphasize the inherent worth and dignity of every individual.

The documentary challenges the notion that prostitution is a choice, instead framing it as a result of coercion, manipulation, and desperation. This perspective resonates with Christian teachings that emphasize the importance of justice, compassion, and the protection of the vulnerable.

Connects sex trafficking to larger injustice issues that faith opposes

Nefarious goes beyond just highlighting the issue of sex trafficking and connects it to larger issues of injustice that faith traditions, including Christianity, oppose. The film explores the intersectionality of sex trafficking with poverty, gender inequality, and systemic injustice.

By doing so, Nefarious invites viewers to consider the broader social, economic, and cultural factors that contribute to the perpetuation of sexual exploitation.

The documentary’s focus on the underlying causes of sex trafficking aligns with Christian teachings on social justice and the call to address systemic issues that perpetuate inequality and oppression.

It encourages viewers to reflect on how they can actively work towards combating these injustices in their own communities.

Explicitly Christian messaging is minimal, but values implicitly resonate

While Nefarious does not heavily emphasize explicitly Christian messaging, its values implicitly resonate with those of the Christian faith. The film highlights the importance of love, compassion, and the pursuit of justice – all key principles found in Christianity.

By focusing on the stories and experiences of survivors, Nefarious evokes empathy and compassion, qualities that are central to the teachings of Jesus Christ. The film encourages viewers to see the humanity in those affected by commercial sexual exploitation and to take action to support and uplift them.

Reviews Praise its Message While Questioning Claims

When it comes to the documentary Nefarious, opinions are divided. While some argue that it is a powerful Christian movie that sheds light on the dark world of sex trafficking, others question the accuracy of its claims and its potential to cross the line into propaganda.

Let’s take a closer look at the reviews from both Christian and secular audiences.

Many Christian audiences found the film impactful and eye-opening

For many Christian viewers, Nefarious struck a chord. The film’s raw and unflinching portrayal of the horrors of sex trafficking left a lasting impact on its audience. It brought to light the unimaginable suffering endured by victims and highlighted the urgent need for action and advocacy.

Christian organizations and communities rallied behind the film, using it as a tool to raise awareness and support for anti-trafficking initiatives.

One reviewer on Christianity Today described the film as “a wake-up call for Christians to engage with the issue of sex trafficking.” Another reviewer on Plugged In praised the documentary for its “gut-wrenching honesty” and commended it for not shying away from the harsh realities of the sex industry.

Secular organizations identified exaggerations but still found lessons

While Nefarious received praise from Christian audiences, secular organizations approached the film with a more critical eye. Some reviewers identified exaggerations in the documentary’s claims, arguing that it may undermine its credibility and hinder the overall message.

However, they acknowledged that the film still succeeded in raising awareness about an important issue.

A review on Vice pointed out that although some statistics presented in the documentary may be inflated, the film still served as a valuable introduction to the complex issue of sex trafficking. Another review on The Hollywood Reporter acknowledged the film’s emotional impact but cautioned viewers to research the claims made in the documentary independently.

Debate continues on whether it crosses line into propaganda

The question of whether Nefarious crosses the line into propaganda is a topic of ongoing debate. Some argue that the film’s strong Christian perspective limits its reach and potential impact on a wider audience.

They raise concerns that the documentary may be seen as pushing a certain ideology rather than presenting an objective exploration of the issue.

On the other hand, supporters of the film argue that its Christian perspective is an integral part of its message. They believe that faith-based initiatives are crucial in fighting against sex trafficking and that Nefarious serves as a call to action for Christians to get involved.

Ultimately, whether Nefarious is considered a Christian movie or a documentary with a Christian perspective may vary depending on one’s viewpoint. What remains undeniable is the importance of addressing the issue of sex trafficking and the impact the film has had in raising awareness and inspiring action.

Ultimately Used as a Faith-Based Conversation Starter

The documentary Nefarious, while not explicitly a Christian movie, has been widely used as a conversation starter within Christian institutions. It sparks discussions about human rights issues and the role of faith in combating injustice.

This thought-provoking film addresses the dark reality of human trafficking and sheds light on the need for action and advocacy.

Sparks discussion at Christian institutions about human rights issues

Nefarious serves as a catalyst for important conversations about human rights and the Christian response to social injustices. Christian colleges, churches, and organizations often use the film as a tool to raise awareness and engage their communities in discussions about the moral imperative to fight against human trafficking.

By shining a spotlight on this pervasive issue, the documentary encourages believers to examine their own role in promoting justice and compassion.

Seen as a call to action for people of faith to combat injustice

For many viewers, Nefarious goes beyond mere entertainment and serves as a call to action. The film challenges people of faith to confront the reality of modern-day slavery and take steps to combat it.

Inspired by the stories and experiences shared in the documentary, individuals and communities are motivated to support anti-trafficking organizations, advocate for stronger legislation, and provide resources for victims of human trafficking.

More a conversation piece than pure entertainment

Nefarious is not your typical feel-good movie; it is a powerful conversation piece that encourages viewers to grapple with the uncomfortable truths of human trafficking. The film’s purpose is not solely to entertain but to educate and inspire change.

While it may not appeal to those seeking light-hearted entertainment, it offers a unique and thought-provoking experience that challenges the viewer’s perspective on important social issues.

Ultimately, Nefarious serves as a faith-based conversation starter, igniting discussions about human rights, the role of faith in combating injustice, and the importance of taking action. It is a powerful tool that prompts believers to examine their own response to the global crisis of human trafficking and encourages them to make a difference in the lives of those affected.

While not explicitly labeled or marketed as Christian entertainment, the hard-hitting documentary Nefarious has strong enough ties to evangelical Christian filmmakers, distribution channels, and messaging that it is reasonably viewed as a faith-based conversation starter.

Its appeal to morality and justice aligns with Christian values even as its focus remains on human rights rather than religion. More a call to action than pure entertainment, Nefarious ultimately serves as a thought-provoking film that speaks powerfully to people of faith about critical social justice issues.

Amanda Williams is a dedicated Christian writer and blogger who is passionate about sharing Biblical truth and encouraging believers in their faith walks. After working as a youth pastor and Bible teacher for several years, she launched her blog in 2022 to minister to Christians online seeking to grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus Christ. When she's not creating content or connecting with readers, Amanda enjoys studying theology, being out in nature, baking, and spending time with family. Her goal is to provide practical wisdom and hope from a genuine Christian perspective. Amanda currently resides in Colorado with her husband, daughter, and two rescue dogs.

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Screen Rant

Nefarious ending explained: why the horror movie feels like a true story.

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The 10 Most Malevolent Demonic Possessions In Movies

The best demonic possession movie of 2023 revitalizes the subgenre (& it's not the exorcist: believer), best horror movies on netflix (january 2024).

• Nefarious blends evil, mental health, and supernatural themes, sparking viewer introspection on morality and reality.
• The demon Nefarious embodies a complex form of corruption, manipulating human vulnerabilities to challenge morality and free will.
• Despite what many viewers may think, Nefarious is not based on a true story, but the 2016 Steve Deace novel, The Nefarious Plot.

The following article contains discussions of attempted suicide.

The 2023 horror film Nefarious intricately weaves a narrative that delves deep into the psyche, leading audiences to wonder if Nefarious is based on a true story. Centering on a psychiatrist assigned to evaluate Edward Wayne Brady, a death row inmate claiming possession by a demon named Nefarious, the film explores themes of evil, mental health, and the supernatural within the confines of a stark penitentiary. This premise invites viewers to question the nature of reality and morality, blending psychological horror with supernatural elements to probe the darkest corners of human existence.

Despite its compelling narrative and thematic depth, Nefarious faced negative reviews from critics, garnering an unfavorable 33% on Rotten Tomatoes . However, this critical reception contrasts sharply with the film's overwhelming approval from audiences, who gave it a 96% audience score, underscoring a significant divergence between critical and viewer perceptions. This discrepancy highlights the film's ability to connect with viewers on a personal level, stirring deep-seated fears and existential questions, along with the feeling of the film being a true story.

Every Prime Video Original Horror Movie, Ranked

Amazon Prime has released some very worthy, original horror films. Not all meet the mark, but some have a Fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating.

What Happens At The End Of Nefarious

Nefarious is responsible for the three deaths in dr. martin's life.

Edward Wayne Brady is at the center of the Nefarious ending, his fate intertwined with that of Dr. James Martin. Brady's dark prophecy—that three deaths would occur before his departure from the state penitentiary—begins to materialize in a haunting and unexpected manner. The first of these tragic events is the death of Dr. Martin's mother, a deeply personal loss that had already occurred when Martin made the agonizing decision to take her off life support, a decision Brady eerily references, hinting at his unnerving knowledge of Martin's personal life.

The second foretold "death" occurs when Dr. Martin's girlfriend has an abortion on the basis that she thinks he will leave her because of the pregnancy. This is untrue, but when Dr. Martin calls his girlfriend to set the record straight, he learns that she has already gone through with the abortion.

Brady's influence extends beyond his death through the manuscript he authors under the demon Nefarious' influence. Titled The Dark Gospel , this work serves as a macabre diary of Dr. Martin's life, suggesting an otherworldly knowledge and manipulation of human affairs. Martin, initially skeptical of Brady's claims, is forced into a reevaluation of his beliefs following a near-fatal altercation with Brady, which precipitates the state's execution of the convicted murderer. This encounter leaves Martin grappling with the reality of evil, both human and supernatural.

In a final twist, as Nefarious attempts to claim Martin in a desperate moment, a failed suicide attempt—potentially thwarted by divine intervention—leaves Martin questioning the very nature of existence and the forces at play within it. Refusing to accept this as mere coincidence, Martin takes it upon himself to publish The Dark Gospel , rewriting it as a cautionary tale against the pervasive evil lurking in the world.

A year later, during a television appearance to promote the book, Nefarious returns to confront Martin one more time . Now inhabiting another host, Nefarious reiterates the eternal struggle between good and evil. This chilling encounter serves as a stark reminder of the film's central, if not heavy-handed, theme: the battle between light and darkness is unending, and the human soul is the battleground on which this eternal war is fought.

10 Chilling Films About Demonic Possession, Ranked According To Rotten Tomatoes

Demonic possession continues to terrify just about everyone. These 10 have been deemed chilling, and they've been ranked by Rotten Tomatoes.

What Is The Nefarious Demon?

Nefarious isn't just a demon but an insidious form of corruption.

The Nefarious demon, a central figure in the film, embodies far more than the traditional concept of a malevolent spirit seeking to possess and corrupt its human hosts. This entity is portrayed as an ancient and intelligent force of evil, with motivations and a history that suggest a complex understanding of human nature and the moral dilemmas that individuals face. Unlike many demonic characters depicted in horror cinema, Nefarious does not merely aim to invoke fear or chaos but engages in a more insidious form of corruption, targeting the souls and psyches of its victims.

Nefarious' influence over Edward Wayne Brady and, by extension, Dr. James Martin, is a testament to its manipulative prowess. Through Brady, the demon reveals an intimate knowledge of Martin's life, including his deepest fears and most painful memories. This suggests that Nefarious' power lies not only in its supernatural abilities but in its psychological acuity , enabling it to exploit the vulnerabilities of its targets effectively. The demon's goal is not just to possess bodies but to challenge and corrupt the very essence of what makes them human: their capacity for love, morality, and free will.

The creation of The Dark Gospel under Nefarious' influence is particularly telling of the demon's ambitions. This manuscript is not just a record of Martin's life but a tool designed to spread Nefarious' malevolent ideology , suggesting that the demon's intentions extend beyond individual torment to a broader desire to challenge societal norms and moral codes. The book serves as a physical manifestation of Nefarious' influence, a sinister testament to its long-term planning and strategic manipulation of human affairs.

Why Brady Was Given The Death Sentence

He is declared sane despite being possessed by nefarious.

Edward Wayne Brady's conviction and subsequent death sentence in Nefarious are pivotal to the film's exploration of justice, morality, and the supernatural. Brady, portrayed as both a victim and perpetrator, finds himself at the intersection of the legal system and the unseen world of demonic possession in the movie . His conviction for the murders of six individuals sets the stage for a complex narrative, where the lines between guilt and innocence, freedom and punishment, are blurred by the film's supernatural elements.

The murders for which Brady is sentenced to death are depicted not merely as acts of violence but as manifestations of a deeper, more insidious evil. This representation challenges the audience to reconsider the nature of accountability when actions may be influenced by forces beyond human understanding. Nevertheless, despite being possessed by Nefarious, Dr. Martin still declares him sane, meaning that Brady will get the death penalty .

From Pazuzu in The Exorcist to Valek in The Conjuring, here are 10 of the most twisted demonic possessions portrayed in horror movie history.

Why Nefarious Tried To Kill Martin

The demon is testing martin's faith & convictions.

The attempt on Dr. James Martin's life by the demon Nefarious represents a critical juncture, serving as a dramatic manifestation of the film's exploration of good versus evil, belief versus skepticism, and the power of human resilience in the face of supernatural threats. This confrontation between Martin and Nefarious is not merely a physical battle but a symbolic struggle that delves into the complexities of faith, personal conviction, and the inherent vulnerability of humans when confronted with malevolent forces that challenge the very foundations of their understanding of the world.

Nefarious' attempt to kill Martin can be interpreted as a strategic move aimed at undermining the last bastions of resistance against its dark influence . As a psychiatrist, Martin represents a scientific and rational approach to understanding the human mind — perspectives that are inherently at odds with the irrationality and chaos sown by demonic forces like Nefarious. By targeting Martin, Nefarious seeks to not only eliminate a direct threat but also dismantle the symbolic order that Martin stands for, further blurring the lines between logic and superstition, between the natural and the supernatural.

This act of aggression can also be seen as a test of Martin's faith and convictions . Throughout the film, Martin struggles with his own beliefs, oscillating between skepticism and the dawning realization that there may be truths beyond the reach of science and reason. Nefarious' attempt on his life forces Martin to confront these doubts head-on, pushing him to a point where he must choose between succumbing to despair or embracing a broader understanding of reality that includes the possibility of supernatural evil.

One demonic possession movie pushed the limits of horror in 2023 much like The Exorcist did in the 1970s, but it wasn't The Exorcist: Believer.

Why Nefarious Feels Like A True Story

The movie's themes are rooted in historical & contemporary fears.

Nefarious ' exploration of themes such as demonic possession and the influence of malevolent forces on human behavior resonates with historical and contemporary fears and fascinations. Throughout history, stories of possession and the battle between good and evil have found their place in the folklore and mythologies of various cultures. By drawing on these deep-rooted narratives, Nefarious taps into a collective unconscious, evoking a sense of familiarity and truth that transcends the boundaries of fiction. The film's portrayal of these themes through the lens of modern characters makes the story feel all the more real and immediate to its audience.

While Nefarious isn't based on a true story, it is based on Steve Deace's 2016 novel The Nefarious Plot . This connection to a pre-existing literary work imbues the film with a sense of depth and premeditation. According to Deace, the film acts as a prequel to his novel, integrating several lines from the book and retaining the demon Nefarious. Deace commented (via Christian Forums ):

"This movie serves as a prequel of sorts to my book A Nefarious Plot. Several lines from it are quoted in the film, and the Nefarious of my book is the one in the film, albeit with Sean Patrick Flannery’s personal touch. But the movie will show you the origin of my book. In 2020, I wrote a sequel to it called A Nefarious Carol, which we will also adapt into a film if this one is successful."

This deliberate weaving of the novel's themes and characters into the film's narrative fabric anchors it in a broader literary and thematic context, enhancing the story's resonance as reflecting true-to-life struggles, albeit through a supernatural lens. Additionally the comments by co-directors Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon about the film's marketing and thematic grounding further illuminate why Nefarious feels like a true story. By presenting the religious horror movie within the framework of mainstream genre, the creators strategically positioned Nefarious to engage viewers beyond the confines of typical genre expectations. Konzelman explained (via Denver Catholic ):

"It’s grounded in a theological sense, but it’s also entertainment. And don’t be afraid of the poster — [it] looks pretty intimidating. The poster is a Trojan horse designed to lure the mainstream horror audience into the film, nonbelievers."

Solomon added:

"Basically, they look at the poster and say, 'We want to go to that movie' because they’re drawn to the occult, which is exactly why we did the poster. In reality, anyone who has seen the movie can tell you there’s no sex or any bad language."

The deliberate choice to eschew explicit content such as sex and bad language speaks to the film's intent to focus on deeper, more universal themes rather than shock value. This decision reinforces the film's accessibility and its potential to resonate with a wide audience by centering on the narrative's moral and existential dilemmas rather than relying on genre conventions. The result is a film that not only captivates and entertains but also invites viewers to ponder significant questions about faith, evil, and the human condition — elements that are very much a part of the real world’s fabric.

The psychological depth of the characters and their moral dilemmas lend a sense of authenticity to the narrative. The characters in Nefarious , particularly Dr. James Martin and Edward Wayne Brady, are not mere archetypes but complex individuals facing profound ethical and existential challenges. Their struggles with faith, guilt, and redemption mirror the internal conflicts that many people experience, making their journeys relatable and their decisions and transformations believable. This psychological realism transforms the supernatural elements of the story into metaphors for the internal demons that everyone battles, thereby grounding the film's more fantastical aspects in genuine human experiences.

With all the streaming content out there, you're bound to find a great horror film to enjoy for the season and Netflix is the best place to look at.

The Real Meaning Of The Nefarious Ending

The movie's ending declares that the conflict between good & evil is never ending.

The Nefarious ending serves as a complex tapestry that interweaves themes of good versus evil, faith, and human resilience, offering a nuanced meditation on the nature of morality and the eternal struggle that defines the human condition. At its core, the film's conclusion transcends the conventional horror narrative, positioning itself as a philosophical inquiry into the essence of evil and the capacity for redemption in the face of darkness .

The final confrontation between Dr. James Martin and the demon Nefarious, especially through the latter's new human host, crystallizes the film's exploration of the cyclical nature of good and evil. This moment in Nefarious is not merely a climactic battle but a symbolic representation of the ongoing war between light and darkness, a theme that resonates deeply with the audience's understanding of their own internal and external battles. Nefarious' parting message to Martin — that the conflict between good and evil is never-ending — serves to highlight the perpetual nature of this struggle.

Watch On Amazon Prime Video

• Nefarious (2023)

The 10 Worst Movies of All Time, According to Rotten Tomatoes

The absolute bottom of cinema's barrel, according to critics.

The arts are always subjective, so what exactly constitutes the "worst movie of all time" is, for sure, debatable. After all, quality and worthiness are in the eye of the beholder. Still, it's undeniable that these particular stinkers are abysmally bad for myriad diverse reasons. What's most subjective, perhaps, is: are these movies so-bad-they're-good, or just so, so bad?

Even if they're ultimately enjoyed for all the wrong reasons, having nothing to do with the filmmakers' intentions, awful movies can have some value. The most hated movies can inform aspiring filmmakers of what not to do and can entertain audiences in a morbid, absurd way. Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes' metric on the Tomatometer , these are the ten worst movies in history with an abysmal 0% approval rating from critics .

10 'Jaws: The Revenge' (1987)

Director: joseph sargent.

Steven Spielberg 's 1975 masterpiece Jaws was the original summer blockbuster and as fine a suspense film as has ever been. The immediate sequel was unnecessary, occasionally exciting, and definitely not entirely awful. Jaws 3D is hilarious. However, the fourth entry alternates between hilarious (fleetingly) and it's mostly unwatchable.

Jaws: The Revenge sees the shark carrying a personal vendetta. This is the picture with one of cinema history's most infamous continuity errors, with Michael Caine 's shirt appearing freshly tailored and dry right after he is submerged in the ocean. This is the one where the shark roars like the MGM lion. In short, Jaws 4 is terrible, but Michael Caine doesn't mind it ; after all, shooting it allowed him to buy his mother a house .

Jaws: The Revenge

Watch on Netflix

9 'The Last Days of American Crime' (2020)

Director: olivier megaton.

This interminably long comic-book adaptation briefly trended on Netflix, and that's exactly where its accomplishments end. Taken 2 and Taken 3 director Olivier Megaton 's nearly three-hour stab at Scarface is abrasive and even kind of pathetic. Good actors like Michael Pitt and Édgar Ramírez are given nothing more to do than pose and shout dialogue.

Critics unanimously agreed that The Last Days of American Crime was a crime against cinema . It's so desperate desire to be edgy that it becomes laughable. For The Last Days of American Crime , edginess just equals a lot of screaming and self-conscious camera work.

8 'National Lampoon's Gold Diggers' (2003)

Director: gary preisler.

National Lampoon's Gold Diggers follows two broke losers who enter a web of crime and scheming with rich old women who have nefarious plans of their own. Sounds like a decent enough premise for a vulgar, unassuming, lowbrow good time, right?

Here's the problem, or at least arguably the biggest among myriad problems: Gold Diggers is PG-13. Thus, it does nothing with its premise, not even the cheap, sleazy jokes fans might expect from such a vulgar premise. Gold Diggers is arguably the limpest enterprise under the National Lampoon banner and one of the all-time worst comedies , which is quite a notorious feat.

Buy on Amazon Prime

7 'Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2' (2004)

Director: bob clark.

Oof. The worst movie of one of the best years for cinema ever, 1999's Baby Geniuses was a critically panned exercise in misery. Impressively and infamously, the 2004 sequel (it's probably worth mentioning that 2004 was also an uncommonly strong year for great film overall) is considerably worse.

Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 features toddlers trying to thwart a media mogul's ( Jon Voight ) nefarious scheme to alter minds. A few of the noteworthy offenders in this groaner are uncanny valley effects that will haunt your nightmares, halfheartedly crude gags and phoned-in adult performances. Baby Geniuses 2 is outright awful, a horrifyingly dumb movie that insults the intelligence of anyone watching .

6 'Pinocchio' (2002)

Director: roberto benigni.

2002's Pinocchio is a far cry from the 1940 Disney masterpiece - arguably the best animated movie ever . Roberto Benigni 's follow-up to Oscar-winning, if divisive, Life is Beautiful comes off as a vanity project that should have been nipped in the bud.

The hero's journey of a young wooden puppet boy earning his stripes is incredibly touching when told right. However, 2002's Pinocchio has a grown man cosplaying as a child, coming off as off-putting in the extreme . Benigni's performance is questionable at best and repellent at worst, and the English dub, courtesy of a woefully miscast Breckin Meyer , does it no favors.

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5 'Gotti' (2018)

Director: kevin connolly.

It's really important to note that John Travolta has, in better films, given some of the best-loved performances in film history. It's not fair to pin this all on him. The ridiculous crime biopic Gotti is like The Godfather from a multiverse where every good filmmaking decision is replaced with a disastrous one.

Gotti is a disastrous effort from actor-turned-director Kevin Connolly . Confused, comically awful, and featuring a script that makes one wrong choice after another, Gotti is a colossal misstep on every level . A side note here: Released one year later, Fred Durst 's The Fanatic was trashed by critics similarly, perhaps a dogpile inspired by resentment at admittedly terrible Gotti . Flawed but never less than entertaining and occasionally inspired, The Fanatic is definitely a superior film to Gotti . It's oddly worth watching.

The story of crime boss John Gotti and his son.

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4 'A Thousand Words' (2012)

Director: brian robbins.

Eddie Murphy is one of the past century's most astonishing and revered comedic geniuses. However, A Thousand Words makes the fatal mistake of taking away his greatest asset as a performer: his voice. It's like hiring Channing Tatum for a dance movie where he sits in a chair for most of the runtime.

A queasily family-friendly magic-realism-heavy fable in the vein of (read: ripped off of) Liar Liar , A Thousand Words is arguably Murphy's worst film ever because it completely disregards the edge and verve that's always made him great. Epically misguided and reprehensible as a result, A Thousand Words is a considerable stain in Murphy's resumé.

A Thousand Words

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3 'Left Behind' (2014)

Director: vic armstrong.

A few years before the Nicolas Cage renaissance with Pig , Mandy and more, the beloved, distinctly enigmatic Oscar winner was still stuck in mindless drivel like Left Behind . A mostly forgotten adaptation of the religious novels of the same name, it's a sci-fi-tinged tale that concerns the rapture and those left behind.

It really isn't fair to bash faith-based movies, especially because there have been many great Christian movies beloved by critics . Left Behind is boring, though, wasting an intriguing enough premise and the powder-keg potential of its lead . He flies a plane in the movie; that's it. Perhaps that is Left Behind 's worst offense: reducing Nicolas Cage to an "okay" lead.

left behind

2 'one missed call' (2008), director: éric valette.

According to the Tomatometer, this is the worst horror movie of all time . And—yeah, it sucks. The runaway success of Gore Verbinski 's The Ring led to a glut of uninspired J-Horror remakes in the aughts ; this is arguably the worst. Unlike countless bad horror movies, it isn't even fun-bad; it's just monotonous. You could put this on your bedroom TV to help you sleep.

Based on 2003's Chakushin Ari , One Missed Call is a $20 million studio horror movie (where did that money actually go? ) about a killer cell phone. It wants to be The Ring meets Final Destination and laughably fails; in fact, One Missed Call makes these admittedly flawed death-comes-calling movies look like top-tier Hitchcock .

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1 ' Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever' (2002)

Director: wych kaosayananda.

According to critics via Rotten Tomatoes, this embarrassingly incompetent cyber-espionage dumpster fire is the single worst movie ever made. World-class performers Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu are trapped in a box-office disaster that's technically an action movie but plays out like it's intentionally designed to lull us to sleep.

Is Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever worth seeing? Is it so bad it's good? The answer is probably not. With one of the all-time worst movie titles , incompetent action, a ludicrous premise, and production values that would give The Room a run for its money, Ballistic is truly terrible and massively boring . And that's just a damn shame.

NEXT: 10 Box-Office Bombs That Became Classic Movies