[Movie Review] MY BEST FRIEND'S EXORCISM

In 2016, Grady Hendrix blessed the horror-lit world with “My Best Friend’s Exorcism.” It’s a quirky, creepy, and darkly funny tale about two teenage girls—Abby Rivers and Gretchen Lang—whose friendship is put to the ultimate test when a demon possesses Gretchen. As the demon steadily destroys Gretchen’s relationships and her mental and physical health, Abby realizes that it’s up to her to save her best friend. Set against the backdrop of Charleston, South Carolina during the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” captures the confusion, the heartbreak, and the humor of adolescence—all wrapped up in a story that’s both fun and legitimately horrifying.

When the news broke that Amazon Prime had greenlit a film adaptation of “My Best Friend’s Exorcism,” fans of the book—myself included—were filled with that strain of caution-tinged excitement specific to genre fiction nerds. Will the filmmakers do the book justice? How closely will they follow the source material? Will we spend the rest of our days uttering the phrase, “The book is better! I swear! Go read the book!”?

MY BEST FRIEND’S EXORCISM (the film) was written by Jenna Lamia and directed by Damon Thomas. It stars Elsie Fisher and Amiah Miller as Abby and Gretchen, respectively. They’re supported by Rachel Ogechi Kanu as Margaret Chisolm (Middleton in the novel), Cathy Ang as Glee Tanaka (originally Wanamaker), Clayton Royal Johnson as Wallace Stoney, and Christopher Lowell as the enthusiastic and underqualified exorcist Christian Lemon.

Up to snuff?

On its own, it’s not a bad film. The pacing is a bit too fast and doesn’t leave room for enough suspenseful build-up to pack a punch, but there are some cool sequences of demonic action. The characters and story seem a touch underwritten, but the cast does well with the material, particularly Fisher and Miller, who deliver believable performances as the central characters. There are also cute moments between Abby, Gretchen, Glee, and Margaret, an exorcism scene that has a nice blend of comedy and horror courtesy of Lowell, and a solid soundtrack throughout the movie.

As an adaptation of Hendrix’s novel, however, the film fell flat. The four main teen characters in “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” are bold, snarky, and a touch rebellious—they smoke, they drink, they skinny dip, and they seek out LSD with great determination. The movie’s Abby, Gretchen, Margaret, and Glee are much milder—they drop acid and skinnydip in a lake, but they’re egged on by Margaret’s boyfriend Wallace.

Abby and Gretchen’s friendship, as Hendrix wrote it, is fully fleshed out and doesn’t shy away from the ups and downs that happen before the possession. Their relationship in Lamia and Thomas’ adaptation is tame and way too sweet—even their signature vow that they love each other “dearly but not queerly,” often abbreviated to a succinct “DBNQ,” was changed to “LYLAS” (“Love you like a sister”)

Unnecessary changes

There are also a few nitpicky issues that may become topics of debate on Twitter and horror-devoted subreddits. One of which is the directorial choice to rewrite one of the characters as queer. While I’m all for more explicitly queer representation in the genre, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this rewrite. On one hand, it always brightens my day to see more LGBTQ+ characters who don’t die. On the other hand, the choice to change this particular character’s arc in this way felt a bit like an attempt to check off a diversity box and seemed to serve no other purpose than to show other characters’ homophobia. The reveal of this character’s sexual orientation, and the way in which the character herself comes out, also felt completely inauthentic, especially given the time period—the 1980s—and the setting—a Catholic high school in South Carolina.

Another rewrite that rubbed me the wrong way: in the film adaptation of “My Best Friend’s Exorcism,” Abby is Jewish. As much as I love seeing Jewish characters who aren’t antisemitic stereotypes, Abby’s Jewishness is a punchline:

“You’re baptized, right?”
“I’m Jewish.”

It’s a completely unnecessary change that, like the addition of a queer character, felt forced and half-baked.

The biggest disappointment, though, is that the non-supernatural horrors that loom over the book’s main narrative seem to have been lost in translation. The world of the novel is more developed and leans into the setting of the American South in the 1980s.

Where is the real horror?

There’s a prominent theme of classism and how one’s socioeconomic status and family background can either make you a convenient scapegoat or shield you from legal repercussions after you’ve committed serious violent crimes. Abby’s parents and Gretchen’s parents, and the girls’ relationships with them, are explored more. Abby’s father can’t hold down a job and her mother is under so much stress that she can’t be as present and supportive as Abby needs her to be. Gretchen’s parents, on the other hand, are affluent and in high social standing…and are both abusive to their daughter.

Some of the horror in this book comes from demonic entities, sure. But the real horror stems from how vicious people can be toward each other and how adults can (and often do) epically fail the children who should be able to trust and rely on them. The film touches upon some of these points but is not nearly as strong as it should have been.

MY BEST FRIEND’S EXORCISM seems to have taken Hendrix’s story and removed the edges and spikes to make an easy-to-market teen scream with a vaguely 80s flair. An exact novel-to-screen adaptation would probably require a miniseries, but a feature film that captured the soul of the book was absolutely possible. Instead, the final product is a lukewarm movie that has stripped away the complexities and depth that make “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” such an original and engaging read.

MY BEST FRIEND’S EXORCISM is now on Prime Video.