Netflix Horror film about possession The Redemption based loosely about the 2011 report by Latoya Ammons and her family, also known as Demon House. Director Lee Daniels (Precious, the butler) did not want to take any chances when it came to addressing the horror associated with Ammons’ report and commissioned an apostle to anoint the sentence with prayer.

The Redemptionnow in select theaters before it appears on Netflix 30.AugustStars Andra Day, Glenn Close, Mo’Nique, Aunjanue Ellis, Caleb McLaughlin And Tasha Smith.

Day plays Ebony Jackson, “a single mother who fights against her personal Demons, moves with her family to a new home to make a fresh start. But when strange occurrences in the house arouse the suspicion of the youth welfare office and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself in a fight for her life and the souls of her children.”

The project first came to Daniels shortly after Valuablebut the spiritual filmmaker was initially hesitant to tackle a horror story based on real people. That changed with the sociopolitical climate, and Daniels found new inspiration in the story.

“About five years ago, I realized that we were in dark times, and I Really wanted to find my higher power,” says Daniels about the turning point. Then it became a topic: “How do I tell this story without it becoming a typical horror story with jump scares? Because that was somehow too boring for me. I actually didn’t want to do that.”

Daniels continues: “I wanted to find a way to tell the story in a way that makes you care about these people, these characters, so that when the horror comes, you’re terrified for them.”

“Everyone is first in line to die.” Athony B. Jenkins as Andre in “Everyone is first in line to die.” Cr. Aaron Ricketts/Netflix © 2024.

The RedemptionLee Daniels with David Coggeshall And Elijah Bynumspends much Time to create complex characters that stand out from their real-life counterparts. So much so that Glenn Close’s character, Ebony’s mother Alberta, is an invention of Daniels and Close.

Daniels explains: “I invented the character Alberta. She was not whiteshe was black in real life, but I wanted to do something different. I wanted to show a character that we don’t really see. I mean, African-Americans know her well, but they’ve never seen her on screen, this white woman who enters this black space, with a black daughter and even blacker grandchildren. How does she navigate And what is it like to be biracial? what is it really like? We are in this world before the carpet gets caught out of us, and we are in a place of horror. So I made you look here when this comes to you.”

The director is equally open when he admits what made Close perfect for Alberta. He tells “Bloody Disgusting”: “I really wanted to work with her and I think she can do anything.”

Of course, the film belongs to the leading actress Andra Day, a desperate mother who has been battling her own demons long before the Biblical demons. The actress was not only committed for the role, but Daniels revealed another important feature what he was looking for: faith. This belief led to surprising improvisation as the horror reached its climax.

“It was important to me to find an actor who is a devout Christian, and I was blessed with her,” Daniels says of Day. “When she speaks in tongues, was not in the script, it wasn’t written at all. She relied on the book and let the Lord speak through her. My AD said, “If she starts speaking in tongues, should we cut her off?” I said, “No, that’s God’s work. It’s God’s work.”‘ And so we let them do their thing.”

The Deliverance. Demi Singleton as Shante in The Deliverance. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024

This also testifies to Lee Daniels’ unwavering faith and determination to ward off any bad omens on set. The filmmaker even had an apostle come to the set every day.

“You know this apostle, don’t you?“ Daniels grins. “The apostle was on set every day to pray for us, because I had books about poltergeistwhat happened on set and on the The Exorcist and further The Omen. Some dark things happened, and that wouldn’t have happened on my set.

“Before We prayed in every scene and the first time we did that, Netflix sent down someone from HR and said we have to stop praying. I just thought, “You know what? I can’t do this without prayers.”‘ I I told my crew that if you don’t want to prayyou can go. But most of them stayed. They all felt like I did. They just wanted to be protected.”