Having its UK premiere at Soho Horror Festival’s in-person Satanic Panic Gala, Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism is an exploration that scours the darkest depths of religious exorcism.
Directed by Nick Kozakis and written by Alexander Angliss-Wilson, Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism centres around Australian couple Lara (Georgia Eyers), and her husband Ron (Dan Ewing). Despite attending a psychiatrist, Ron believes that Lara’s experience of visions and sleepwalking is a spiritual ailment that can only be solved with divine intervention. After being put in contact with a fundamentalist Christian preacher who claims he can exorcise people of their demons, Ron allows Lara to be left to the hands of the zealous congregation – which leads to consequences more deadly than any sort of demonic infestation.
Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism continues the Australian horror tradition of films like Lake Mungo (2008), and Wolf Creek (2005), by portraying the worst of human nature in increasingly disturbing, yet utterly devastating ways.
Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism continues the Australian horror tradition of films like Lake Mungo (2008), and Wolf Creek (2005), by portraying the worst of human nature in increasingly disturbing, yet utterly devastating ways. What begins as a run-of-the-mill set up for a stereotypical possession horror soon devolves into something much more horrific, as viewers soon realise this isn’t the usual battle between heavenly good and hellish evil. In fact, the film is a depiction on religious abuse, the manipulation of vulnerable people – particularly those who are afflicted by mental illness, and the dangers of exploiting the rite of exorcism (which results in the death of the supposedly “possessed”). Tim Pocock as Daniel – the fanatical and egotistical exorcist – is a truly terrifying villain, whose descent into evil is a completely uncomfortable and distressing watch.
Based on an actual case from 1994, Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism is a disconcerting portrayal of how religious fundamentalism and blind faith is a danger to society and its most vulnerable members. With powerful performances and a genuinely upsetting conclusion, Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism competently conveys how humanity is worse than any imagined demonic monster.
Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism had its UK premiere at Soho Horror Fest 2023
