Horror movies have become extremely popular on streaming platforms, with audiences constantly seeking out spooky thrills. Lee Daniels’s latest faith-based horror movie, The Deliverance, which is now streaming on Netflix, follows the Jackson family as they face a series of harrowing events after moving into a new home for a fresh start. While the family struggles to make ends meet and deal with dysfunctional relationships, the haunting past of their new house entangles them further in their own struggles and faith.
The Deliverance boasts a strong cast, including Andra Day, Glenn Close, Mo’Nique, and Caleb McLaughlin. The story, inspired by the true events of LaToya Ammons and her allegedly haunted Indiana home, brings the characters to life as they navigate dysfunctional relationships, trauma, and the struggle to start fresh with little support. The film tries to create the eerie atmosphere we’re familiar with from movies like The Conjuring and The Exorcist. Unfortunately, it starts to falter by the third act kicks in.
The buildup and haunting sequences push the story forward while subtly highlighting the challenges faced by a single Black mother trying to provide for her family, all while under the scrutiny of social services due to her history of alcoholism. The film portrays the buildup of past trauma and the difficulty of figuring things out alone. Still, it fails to fully explore this subtext, ultimately taking a standard approach to resolving the issue of evil spirits.
It also highlights how children in broken families have much to deal with while trying to understand the world around them. The constant battle to read the room, along with a parent struggling with alcoholism and temperamental issues, often takes a psychological toll on a young child. This can lead them to either withdraw from the world or desperately try to break free from their environment in search of a better life. The film features three kids from different age groups, showing how children’s mentalities vary with age and emphasizing the importance of a safe foundation for their growth, especially when living in a challenging environment.
Nonetheless, the film is still worth watching, mainly because of the dynamic between mother and daughter and the volatile relationships the daughter, now a mother herself, has with her three children, each with different personalities. Both Andra Day and Glenn Close deliver strong performances, and their chemistry brings a refreshing energy to the film, especially for a horror movie of this nature.
In this article, I will explain the plot of the movie, detailing what takes place and providing an account of what happened to LaToya Ammons’s family in real life. Please note that the article contains spoilers, so proceed with caution.
The Deliverance (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The Deliverance begins with Ebony (Audra Day), along with her mother Alberta (Glenn Close) and her three children—Nate (Caleb McLaughlin), Shante (Demi Singleton), and Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins)—settling into their new house. Ebony’s husband is nowhere to be seen, having been absent for quite some time after being drafted to Iran. Berta and Ebony share a typical relationship, barely tolerating each other’s presence. Ebony has a history of alcoholism and a criminal record, and her hot-headed temperament is still something her children have to deal with now and then.
Cancer-stricken Alberta is religious and often pushes Ebony to make peace with God. However, Ebony doesn’t like being lectured about her life as she struggles to find steady employment, pay for her mother’s chemotherapy, and face the threat of losing custody of her children due to a Department of Child Services (DCS) investigation headed by Cynthia (Mo’Nique). When the children are troubled by neighborhood kids, Ebony handles the situation by whooping the bullies and threatening them never to touch her kids again. Shante, the second and more sensible child among the three, warns her mother that her behavior could land her back in jail if she doesn’t learn to deal with things calmly.
As Ebony struggles to manage the daily challenges of her life, strange occurrences begin to happen in their new home. The youngest son, Andre, is drawn to the shadowy, fly-infested basement, where he claims to speak with an imaginary friend named Trey. Despite his bizarre behavior, Ebony is too preoccupied with her immediate concerns to address the situation fully. The tension within the family escalates, especially between Ebony and her mother, who frequently clash over their past and the financial burdens of Alberta’s cancer treatments. Alberta also acts as a buffer to the children, who are often the targets of Ebony’s quick temper and abuse.
The Haunting Descent of the Jackson Family
Supernatural events soon become impossible to ignore when Ebony and Alberta find Nate attempting to drown Andre in the bathtub while seemingly possessed. Realizing that an evil force is at work in their home, Alberta seeks help from local churches. At the same time, Ebony encounters Reverend Bernice James (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), who has dealt with similar hauntings in the past and knows about the history of the house the Jackson family is living in. Bernice warns Ebony that the house is haunted by demons that have a history of possessing and destroying families, but Ebony, skeptical and desperate, initially rejects her help.
The situation takes a tragic turn when Alberta is found dead, with red marks around her neck, and Ebony realizes that Andre, now possessed by an evil spirit, is responsible. The family’s situation spirals further out of control when Ebony, after nearly causing a car accident, seeks help from strangers, only to be deemed unstable and have her children taken away from her.
Andre is hospitalized for further observation, and during a visit from Cynthia (Mo’Nique), the DCS social worker assigned to the family, he exhibits terrifying behavior—convulsing, frothing at the mouth, and climbing the walls. Cynthia, who had been extremely critical of Ebony, begins to realize that the issues in the family are far more sinister than she initially believed.
The Deliverance (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
After realizing that a demon possesses her son, Andre, Ebony teams up with Bernice, the apostle she had previously encountered, to perform a “deliverance,” a ritual similar to an exorcism but without an intercessor. Bernice, who is firm in her faith, guides Ebony through this process, hoping to free Andre from the evil spirit that has taken over him. The ritual begins in Ebony’s home, where Andre is strapped to a chair. Bernice and Ebony attempt to expel the demon by throwing holy water on Andre. The demon, which they now know is Trey—the imaginary friend Andre had been talking to all this time—transforms into a version of Berta, spewing vile insults at them. Trey, now entirely in control, escapes and overpowers the two women.
Trey, who now feels stronger, is able to pin down Bernice and kill her. Before she dies, Bernice yelps to Ebony about fighting the demon without losing faith, warning her that the only way to defeat the demon is by having “no fear.” With Bernice dead, Ebony is left to confront Trey alone. She rushes into the basement—a space that symbolizes her buried trauma and fears (we learn in a flashback sequence that Ebony was raped as a child by her mother’s boyfriend)—to face Andre and the demon. Trey, trying to manipulate Ebony, morphs into a version of herself, attacking her physically and psychologically by exploiting her deepest insecurities. The confrontation is not just a battle between Ebony and the demon but also a battle within Ebony herself as she struggles to reclaim her faith and strength.
Is Ebony able to save her family?
Ebony goes into a trance where she recounts happier moments with her son. This vision, combined with the memory of her mother’s words urging her to find some faith in God, gives her the strength to fight back. She battles the demon with renewed faith, speaking in tongues and reciting Bible verses. The power of her belief burns down the demon, engulfing it in flames and ultimately exorcising it away from Andre. Her faith is so strong that the demon is pushed into the depths of a hellfire that forms in the middle of the basement.
When the battle is over, Ebony finds Andre lying peacefully on the basement floor, free from the demon’s influence. However, despite her success in saving her son, Ebony’s life is still a mess. Her other children, Nate and Shante, who were also affected by the demon’s presence, are now safe, but Ebony faces the harsh reality that the courts have taken her children away. Disturbed by the entire episode, she leaves her home and moves in with her aunt in Philadelphia, determined to rebuild her life.
Cynthia, who had initially doubted Ebony’s fitness as a mother, returns to find Ebony packing up her belongings. Moved by the events she witnessed, Cynthia is now sympathetic toward her and assures her that there is hope for her to regain custody of her children if she can get her life back on track.
Does Ebony get the custody of her children?
The film jumps forward six months after the end of The Deliverance (2024), revealing that Ebony has reunited with her children. As they drive to their new home, Ebony tells her kids that she has been in touch with their father and that they will try to work things out, offering a glimmer of hope for the family’s future.
The movie closes with a nod to the real-life inspiration behind the story, showing a picture of Latoya Ammons, whose experiences with demonic possession were the basis for the film. The final scroll also notes that the haunted house at the story’s center remained vacant until it was bulldozed in 2016, with strange occurrences still reported around the property. This final note leaves viewers with a sense of discomfort because we are left with the idea that even though the devil was defeated, there’s a chance it might still be sticking around in some form.
The Deliverance (2024) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia, Letterboxd
The Deliverance (2024) Movie Cast: Andra Day, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Mo’Nique
The Deliverance (2024) Movie Runtime: 1h 52m, Genre: Horror/Mystery & Thriller
Deepshikha Deb is the publisher of High on Films. She quit her job to watch movies with her husband and occasionally write about them. She is also a social media and momo-tasting expert who loves Masala Dosa and Tilda Swinton.
