Glenn Close has delivered her most buck-wild performance on Netflix since, well, you know. Like Hillbilly Elegy before it, The Deliverance features Close de-glammed, bewigged, and portraying a subsection of American poverty. But why does she say “I can smell your nappy pussy†in a tiny little girl voice?
What is The Deliverance about?
The Deliverance is an exorcism movie, kinda. As the film’s veteran pastor says, “I don’t do no exorcisms. I don’t need an intercessor. Jesus Christ is my intercessor.†So an exorcism without a church hierarchy between you and God. Also, nobody between you and the Devil.
Andra Day stars as Ebony, a mother of three. She has unresolved trauma with her mother (Close), a baby daddy in Iraq who is petitioning for full custody, a drinking problem, and CPS (Mo’Nique) on her back. Then the Devil possesses her youngest son (Anthony B. Jenkins) and things go from bad to worse.
So Glenn Close is the grandma?
Yeah, and it’s the classic “bad mom, good grandma†situation. Would you believe the Devil is something of a metaphor for generational trauma in this movie? Grandma Alberta used to beat Ebony and was addicted to drugs. But now she has (1) Jesus and (2) cancer. Ebony is letting Alberta live with the family during her chemo. The pair clash often over how to raise the kids, but they also have sweet moments, like when grandmother, mother, and daughter all watch The Valley of the Dolls together during a hair-braiding sesh. They know every word of it by heart.
Valley of the Dolls? This movie knows it’s camp.
Maaaaaybe. Much of the tone is depressing church movie, not “Glenn Close in a lace front flirting with Omar Epps.†But the camp sensibility shines through on occasion.
Does Glenn Close wear wigs? Has she worn wigs? Will she wear wigs? When does she wear wigs?
Glenn Close is either in a wig or a bald cap for the entirety of her screen time. You could blame the chemo, but I get the sense Alberta was a fan of false hair long before they became a necessity.
What else does Glenn Close do in this film?
Besides the pussy comment, here’s a non-exhaustive list:
âž½ Tries on wigs in front of a mirror
âž½ Complains about how her catfish is seasoned
➽ Quotes Valley of the Dolls while braiding her daughter’s hair
➽ Asks her chemo nurse (yup, Omar Epps), “What are you, gay or something?†because he hasn’t asked her out
➽ Takes aforementioned chemo nurse to her granddaughter’s birthday, where he sings Lou Rawls to her
âž½ Threatens to call CPS on her own daughter
âž½ Threatens CPS with a baseball bat
âž½ Dies!
âž½ Appears as a projection of a demon possessing her grandson
âž½ Talks to her daughter from Heaven
Ohhh, that’s why she has demon teeth during the pussy comment.
Yes. That’s also probably why she speaks in a weird little baby voice then? Just regular creepy demon shit.
The opening of the movie says it’s based on a true story, so there was a real Alberta?
Hmmm … unclear! The Deliverance is based on a real alleged haunting/possession, the Ammon Haunting, a.k.a. the 200 Demons House. Obviously, changes were made, although the part where the youngest child walked backward up a wall in front of a caseworker was reported in newspapers. The Ammons used a Catholic priest for their exorcism(s), unlike the film, which stays Protestant. The Deliverance also moves the action from Gary, Indiana, to Pittsburgh. Maybe for tax breaks? Maybe because Caleb McLaughlin is in this movie and he can’t always play Hoosiers? But the Ammons really did live with their grandmother, Rosa Campbell. History is silent on the quality or variety of her wig collection.
How is Lee Daniels taking the … mixed reception?
He seems to be in good spirits about it. Daniels QT’d the original viral tweet, saying, “Had to do it.†When someone replied, “Sir, you had THE Glenn Close in a 26 piece wig, doing a sew-in on the porch in the hood, the secret service needs to get involved at this point,†he said, “This tweet could be an ad,†followed by three cry-laughing emojis.
Cry-laughing emoji, indeed.