Deus Irae review
Excommunicated priests going after a swarm of demons. Yes, please.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Deus Irae
Directed by Pedro Cristiani
Written by Pedro Cristiani
Starring Pablo Ragoni and Gastón Ricaud
Deus Irae Review
Argentina brings us a stylish religious horror movie that infuses a cool and dangerous factor into its faith often missing from similar genre pieces. The elevator pitch is strong. A group of excommunicated priests travel around to exorcise a swarm of demons. Yeah…sign me up for all of that. Unfortunately, what the pitch won’t tell you is that the elevator only reaches the lower third of its building. There may be another elevator coming along to take you the rest of the way…but Deus Irae isn’t built to deliver full service. That doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun along the way.
Father Javier (Pablo Ragoni) is in a bad way when we meet him. He’s explaining to his mentor why he cut his fingerprints off. He’s losing time, suffering from massive headaches, and may have stumbled onto something extremely dangerous. He once witnessed a trio of excommunicated priests performing an exorcism that cost one of them their lives. Now, he’s seeing their seal everywhere he goes. The surviving duo has tracked him down. And they bring with them an offer he can’t refuse.
Deus Irae is broken into several chapters. Where these breaks occur seem largely arbitrary. They don’t always change perspectives…often beginning the moment last chapter ended. A title card inserted into a seemingly unbroken scene. It’s a strange choice…until a title card arrives at the end of the story that makes more sense out of things. That card reads “End of Book One”. Deus Irae feels exactly like that. A first entry in an ongoing series. The epilogue teases continuing adventures for the priests…adventures I’m excited to watch following this initial story. It is, however, indicative of Deus Irae’s biggest issue. It’s a beginning without a middle or an end. A credible introduction. Thankfully, it’s also a lot of fun.
The concept of a trio of ousted priests on a demon hunt is a lot of fun. The characters are dynamic to boot. Throw in some gnarly gore effects and some bonkers ideas and you have the makings of a good religious horror entry. There’s a spider-like skeleton monster that pops out of a dead body. What more does one need? Well…I’d argue that Deus Irae needed a few more things. It’s an interesting movie to review. What it provides is very good. What it’s missing keeps it from reaching its full potential.
Namely, it doesn’t feel complete. There isn’t much of a plot here. Most of the movie is spent introducing Javier to the ways of the renegade priests. It’s fun and engaging stuff, to be fair. There’s a lot of darkness and excitement in the first half of Deus Irae. It eventually finds something for the characters to do in the second half…but it all feels very much like an origin story. The big adventures are yet to come. Hard for that to not be a knock against the movie we get.
That said, it’s easy to envision a day in the not-too-distant future where a sequel makes Deus Irae required viewing. It sets up a massive playground of demons, darkness and bloodshed for a potential series to play with. The coolest priests you know playing by their own rules to fight an infectious evil. Damn…that still sounds amazing. Deus Irae shows how it will all work…a proof of concept that entertains through striking visuals, committed performances, and an inherent cool factor you rarely find in religious horror stories.
Writer/director Pedro Cristiani builds a strong atmosphere into Deus Irae. He tells Javier’s backstory through flash cuts into his memory. It’s a stylish choice that keeps momentum moving forward even as it looks back. The first act of the story paints Javier as an unreliable narrator. Unexplainable acts happen around him…and he doesn’t have a good excuse for what’s happening when he blacks out. His belief, however, is that there are priests working outside the system…and they are responsible for everything.
His belief is proven correct when the group takes him in. It comes with a fantastic scene of demon fighting (see skeleton spider) and will lead him to a deeper understanding of his headaches, power, and role in the battle that’s to come. It’s good stuff. Strong enough to make the lack of a full plot in Deus Irae more palatable. The second half is a bit messier. The cool factor remains…but the story often feels like its searching for purpose while holding back ideas for the future. There is some terrific horror imagery and the wildest confession scene you’ll ever see. Worthwhile moments with characters the story takes care to establish. Enough to recommend…especially if a sequel ever does come down the pike.
Deus Irae is based on a short film of Cristiani’s own making. This expanded feature version is part origin story…part first adventure. It shortchanges the latter. It succeeds so fully in the former, however, that a continuing series would be a very welcome enterprise. If nothing else, these characters deserve to be given something grander, deeper, and more complete to do. Deus Irae has laid a strong foundation. It only builds temporary housing atop it in the second half of its story. An elevator that lets you off before you reach the top.
Scare Value
The biggest issue with Deus Irae is that it feels like an entry point for a franchise. The end of the film doubles down on that idea. As a first act…it’s a good one. I’m interested in seeing more stories that take place in this world…with these characters. At the same time, I’d like to have seen more of that in this movie. What’s here is very good. It’s dark, bloody, wild…and introduces us to some fascinating characters. But it’s just an introduction.
3/5
Deus Irae Link
Streaming on Screambox December 10
