Courtney Gets Possessed review.
A horror comedy about a woman whose impending marriage interferes with a previous engagement…to the Devil.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Courtney Gets Possessed
Directed by Madison Hatfield and Jono Mitchell
Written by Madison Harfield and Jono Mitchell
Starring Lauren Bugliolo, Madison Hatfield, Jonathon Pawlowski, Najah Bradley, Zae Jordan, Aditi George and Steven Reddington
Courtney Gets Possessed Review
Possession movies are all the rage in 2023. From fresh takes on the concept like Talk to Me and When Evil Lurks to movies with nothing new to say like The Exorcist: Believer…we’ve seen a steady stream of possession stories. Courtney Gets Possessed puts a comedic spin on it…and throws in some surprisingly well-developed characters to boot. Let’s be honest…David Gordon Green set a pretty low floor on these things.
Courtney (Lauren Buglioli) has finally found the man of her dreams. When her bridesmaids gather for her wedding, she fills them in on a little secret. She’s already engaged. To the devil. They attempt a protection spell…but things go south when the devil shows up to the party. He possesses Courtney and throws the wedding party into a fight for their lives.
Courtney Gets Possessed has a lot of things going for it. The cast is great…and they are given characters that are stronger than your standard horror comedy. While the comedy can be a bit of a hit and miss affair, the overall feel of the movie is quite fun. It has some surprising moments and some interesting character relationships. The movie doesn’t aim that high…but it accomplishes what it sets out to do.
The devil here is in the form of a man named Dave (Jonathon Pawlowski). We meet him in the opening scene of the movie. Courtney is at a family wedding and Dave shows up to hit on her. This is also where we meet Caitlin (Madison Hatfield), Courtney’s sister. Their relationship plays an important role in the story. Caitlin has stolen multiple boyfriends from her sister. They aren’t the closest siblings as a result. Despite this, Caitlin is a bridesmaid at Courtney’s wedding…though, notably, not the maid of honor.
The bulk of the story takes place five years after the opening scene. It turns out, Courtney saw Dave for a while in secret after their initial meeting. Also, Dave is the devil. Courtney is somehow betrothed to him…even wearing his mark on her back. When Dave crashes the party, invited by a jealous Caitlin…all Hell breaks loose.
Dave traps everyone in the house they’re in and demands that Courtney consent to becoming his Hell bride. He needs her consent and will destroy everyone around her to get it. To exert his control over her…and her friends…Courtney gets possessed. Any attempt to fight back will only hurt Courtney, not the devil inside of her. The first victim is an unusually hot pizza delivery guy. His attractiveness is something that doesn’t elude anyone who happens upon his lifeless body as the movie rolls on. That’s the kind of humor we’re talking about. It’s funny enough.
When the party manages to tie Courtney up…they call her fiancé Glen (Zae Jordan) for help. He arrives with Courtney’s brother Chuck (Steven Reddington) and a minister who has been ordained online. They’re in over their head but manage to free Courtney through the power of love (and an original spoken word poem inspired by Boys II Men). The only problem? Glen gets possessed.
You probably get the idea of Courtney Gets Possessed by now. The tone is light enough to enjoy…but the realistic character conflicts give it some added depth. The devil pulls some surprising moves while possessing Glen and we get some fun kill scenes. Even better, we get a pretty nice resolution to the movie. If you are following the character conflicts throughout the movie, you’ll be able to see it all coming…but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to watch.
Zae Jordan is in fine form while possessed by Dave. Steven Reddington adds some consistent humor as Chuck. Glen’s sister Jasmine (Najah Bradley) adds another interesting character to the mix. She, rightfully, thinks that all this devil business is a red flag for the woman about to marry her brother. Maid of honor Lexi (Adita George) is another fun character to follow. It’s a well-cast movie that delivers far more in the character department than similar films.
Courtney Gets Possessed isn’t going to blow you away. It isn’t trying to. What it’s trying to do is provide an entertaining time watching a possession comedy. It succeeds at that completely. There are enough fun moments to make up for some missed ones. The consistent tone of the movie is a strength, as is its attention to characters above all. You could do a lot worse in a possession movie than Courtney Gets Possessed. If you’d like to…David Gordon Green has a movie for you.
Scare Value
Courtney Gets Possessed plays its fun idea for all that it’s worth. It pays special attention to character relationships allowing for some worthwhile payoffs. A funny movie with some unexpected kills…pretty much what you’re looking for in a movie like this. A fun watch.
3/5
Courtney Gets Possessed Links
Rent/Buy on VOD from Vudu and Amazon
