This article contains spoilers for The Exorcist: BelieverDavid Gordon Green’s direct sequel toThe Exorcisthas been a box office hit, despite mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. Hopes for the new film,The Exorcist: Believerwere raised when Green managed to coax Ellen Burstyn back to play legendary legacy character, Chris MacNeil.
ThePineapple Expressdirector is no stranger to the horror genre, after recently completing hisHalloweentrilogy. Universal were impressed with all three films performances at the box office, and hired Green to direct not one, but three Exorcist legacy sequels. Similar toHalloween, these films would ignore the events of the sequels, and take place 50 years after the events of the classic original directed by William Friedkin.
Before his death,Friedkin had been critical of the planned trilogy, and has always thrown shade at anyone trying to emulate the success he had with the first film. Despite his misgivings, the film attracted a good cast to join Ellen Burstyn in the new film. However, Burstyn wasn’t the only legacy cast member to return, which has got fans wondering how the big surprise cameo at the end of the film will impact the franchise moving forward.
What happens in the film to bring Linda Blair’s Regan back?
The Exorcist: Believerstarts off with new characters in a brand-new story which sees two teenage girls, Angela and Katherine heading off into the woods to do some ritualizing. The girls go missing for three days, and then reappear in a barn miles away from where they went missing. It soon becomes clear they have been possessed by a demonic force, and Angela’s father, Victor, seeks the advice ofChris MacNeil who went through a similar ordeal 50 years ago with her daughter Regan. (in the first Exorcist movie)
Chris has written a book about her daughter’s possession and reveals to Victor that Regan no longer speaks to her because of this. She has no idea where she currently is, and if she’s even still alive. She agrees to help Victor, and they pay a visit to Angela’s friend, Katherine, who is still at the family home causing all sorts of demon havoc. The demon recognizes Chris, and taunts her about Regan, and ends up stabbing her in both eyes with a crucifix. She is rushed to hospital and sidelined for the big climactic exorcism.
Chris returns at the end of the film, still recovering from her injuries in the hospital, and that’s when her daughter, Regan, turns up to visit her mother and potentially heal the rift between them. It was a total surprise to the audience to see Linda Blair return to her most famous role after she had stated for many years that she’d never play the character again. It was revealed in the lead up toThe Exorcist: Believerbeing released, that Linda Blair was working on the film as a consultant and helping the two actresses playing the possessed teenagers, after experiencing it herself in the original movie. But she maintained that she hadn’t been approached to star in the new film.
What could this mean for the direction of the Exorcist franchise?
The jaw-dropping ending toThe Exorcist: Believeropens up so many possibilities for the future of the franchise, withThe Exorcist: Deceiverdue to arrive in cinemas in 2025, and a third film to follow after that. David Gordon Green has been tight-lipped on whether Linda Blair has signed up for the sequels, but Chris and Regan’s reconciliation at the end of the film certainly teases that there could be more to come from Regan.
Despite the film primarily focusing on a new group of characters, with Victor and Angela taking center stage, the film was very much promoted as a legacy sequel, and not a reboot. Original characters are a big part of the success of any legacy sequel, as witnessed inDavid Gordon Green’s very ownHalloweentrilogy, with Laurie Strode still being the main focus.
There is an argument for Chris and Regan re-uniting at the end ofThe Exorcist: Believeracting as closure for both characters, and giving them a happy ending, but if they don’t return it would feel like a missed opportunity to explore them further. Linda Blair did return to play Regan inExorcist 2: The Heretic,but the film was panned by critics, and didn’t do her character any justice in this sequel tothe perfect horror movie. This new trilogy gives Linda Blair the opportunity to give Regan the true send-off she deserves in this franchise, and return to help the next unsuspecting victim. It would also be very satisfying to see her come face to face with the demon that possessed her all those years ago, and defeat it once and for all. The possibilities are endless for this character, and a Regan-centric sequel would be a good direction for this franchise to go in, especially after mixed reviews of the first film.The Exorcistchanged the horror genre, and the upcoming sequels really need to pay tribute to what came before it.
