Instituto de Letras – Departamento de Línguas Modernas – Setor de Inglês

English IV - Prof. Lucas Henrique Fogaça Marengo

Jordana Campos

The film “Nefarious” and the battle for the human mind

A major release in 2023, surprises with its psychological Christian horror and reveals the
strategies of evil.

The film "Nefarious" has generated great curiosity in Brazil and around the world. Directed and
written by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, the film is based on the novel "A Nefarious Plot"
by Steve Deace. A psychiatrist, Dr. James Martin, is called to evaluate the mental health of
Edward Brady, a serial killer on death row with an execution scheduled for that night. His goal is
to determine if the man has any mental illness that would prevent his execution. The previous
psychiatrist's diagnostic hypothesis is dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple
personalities). A definitive diagnosis would prevent the execution.

Edward claims to be a demon named Nefarious. Despite being an atheist and not believing he is
speaking with a spiritual entity, the psychiatrist engages in conversation and attempts to analyze
Edward's mental state by speaking with Nefarious. The demon, on the other hand, seems to be
in control of the situation, wanting to get rid of Edward and recruit James for a larger plan.

The film focuses on the dialogue between the two. It is somewhat reminiscent of C.S. Lewis's
book "The Screwtape Letters," in the sense of revealing the strategies of evil from the perspective
of a demon, shedding a different light on our daily lives. For example, at one point, Nefarious
explains to James that demonic possession is a process, which reveals much about the work of
evil on thoughts, attempting to manipulate human will, actions, and reactions. He says that to
enter someone's life, he needs the person to make small concessions so that he gains rights over
them.

They only need to say "yes" to the suggestions he gives. And this is biblical. When a person obeys
the voice of evil, they automatically distance themselves from God. No matter the size of the
obedience. One cannot serve two masters. If you say yes to one, you are necessarily saying no
to the other.

Edward's file describes him as a great manipulator, but when the real Edward talks to the doctor,
we see a broken and confused man, with a clouded mind and completely oppressed by
Nefarious' personality. It is truly what would happen to someone who allowed full access of their
mind to evil—the true manipulator.

What Nefarious does to Edward in the film is a bit of what evil wants to do with everyone. But
imagine, someone locked in a cell 24 hours a day, in a place infested with demons, without access
to the outside world, without anyone praying for them, without a Bible... what chance could they
have? And if the main responsible for the evil and wrong choices people make is an immortal
being, what good does it do to want those people used by him to die? How can we know who
Edward would be without Nefarious?
One of the film's greatest qualities is addressing the subject in the least religious way possible.
The word "demon" immediately evokes a religious image, but if these beings exist, they have
nothing to do with religion; they have to do with reality. Not believing in something that exists
does not make it cease to exist. It just means you don't know how to defend against it.

In my opinion, "Nefarious" is not about demonic possession; it's about the action of evil in
society, about spiritual warfare, and about the primary battlefield of this war: the human mind.
And even if you don't believe, it would be interesting to think: "what if it were true... would it
make sense?" And yes, it does.

“It's not a horror movie” - some critics have exclaimed. How not? A movie that takes place
entirely in an interview with a demon, that is, with an exclusively malevolent being, is pure terror.
All the worst things in this world come from these creatures.

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.

The problem is that you realize that if "Nefarious" is a horror movie, human life on this earth
infested with demons is also. And there isn't much we can do other than, even in this life, make
the right choice to leave the dominion of evil so that God can defend us. It's the only way to
ensure that we will spend eternity far away from anything resembling what Nefarious and his
accomplices did here. It's been a long time since I've seen such an intelligent movie. Even as a
Christian, the film takes care to use language that is understandable to those who are not, and
not to stereotype opposing thoughts (although it may irritate some more radical activists). But it
exposes the truth. It's very much worth seeing. Take advantage of it being on streaming and
watch it two, three times, paying attention to the details. I guarantee it will broaden your
understanding.

Released in April, 2023 in the United States, the film was considered one of the best portrayals
of demonic possession. On its first weekend of release, the film grossed $1.3 million (equivalent
to R$ 6.3 million). It also received an audience score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, a significant
American movie review website. The Christian film has a rating of 14 years old and, despite being
considered horror, is capable of surprising even those who are not fans of the genre since it
brings important lessons about the spiritual world and faith.