Directed by Damon Thomas, “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” is a quirky coming-of-age tale of how a demon possesses a friend and secludes her from her other friends. The film pushes through with the trials of friendship and could be perceived as a parody with all its stereotypes. It was released on September 30th on Prime and is based on the novel written by Grady Hendrix.
Spoilers Ahead
‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’ Plotline: What Is The Film About?
The story is set in the 1980s. Gretchen and her best friend Abby discuss their outings as Gretchen is set to move out in a few days. Margaret and Glee, their other friends, join them at school to explore their coming-of-age years. Margaret proposes an adventure to her lake house, which is adjacent to a creepy manor. The manor is rumored to be the hub for Satanic rituals, and a girl was said to have been sacrificed for it. The girls spice up their night with a round of Ouija Board and edibles. They celebrate the time of their lives while the manor cooks up a haunted story surrounding Gretchen. While Margaret, her boyfriend Wallace, and Glee enjoy their night by skinny dipping, Abby and Gretchen set out to explore the haunted mansion. They stumble across a suspicious entity, and they make a run for it. However, Abby is chased outside and hallucinates Gretchen behind her while Gretchen tries to escape from the mansion, hallucinating Abby behind her. She gets caught and is possessed, which brings about a change in her behavior. Gretchen begins sabotaging all her friends due to the possession and spirals deep into a depression. Abby finally gets a hold of Gretchen and attempts an exorcism on her with the help of Christian Lemon, who was the first person to realize that Gretchen was possessed. Abby is left to complete the exorcism on her own, and she sets things in place. Gretchen, demon free, finally moves out of her home to start a new chapter, and the friends keep in touch and advocate for their own causes. Gretchen and Abby remain best friends throughout their life.
What Happened To Margaret And Glee?
After Grethen gets possessed, the demon takes hold of her body and sabotages her friends. She introduces a tapeworm-induced diet supplement to Margaret, who has an issue with her body image. She is obsessed with her weight and wants to lose it no matter the consequence. She takes the supplement and then faces issues with her stomach and guts and has to be hospitalized to take out the other tapeworms in her body. Meanwhile, Glee’s secret of being a lesbian is exposed by Gretchen’s prank. She writes a letter to Glee and gives her the false hope that it might be Margaret. Glee, who is in love with Margaret, confronts her and shows concern over her well-being, and is rejected harshly by a sick Margaret. She then has cake made with peanuts given to her by Gretchen. Glee has a peanut allergy and has to be rushed to the hospital due to not having an EpiPen on her. Everybody remains unaware of who conspired these until Abby figures out Gretchen’s course of action by reading her secret diary. Abby helps Margaret and Glee with their situation before finally moving on to get a hold and exorcize the demon out of Gretchen.
What Happened To Gretchen And Abby?
Gretchen and Abby seem to stick to themselves through thick and thin. However, the day at the creepy manor put their friendship through an ultimate test that severed the trust they had in each other. Gretchen, after being possessed, seemed to treat Abby like crap. She secluded Abby at first and then moved on to sabotaging her other friends. Gretchen also humiliated Abby by using her insecurities. She dunked her in the water, although it was a game, and revealed her precious secret of harboring a huge crush on Brother Morgan. Abby found out about her diary, The Trapper-Keeper, a huge thing in the 80s and 90s before slam books took over. The stereotypes reach and ultimate here when ‘surprise surprise’ the demon made her write help and also hell and doodles of her friends apparently dead. This made Abby figure out that Gretchen was possessed. The only other person to notice the possession was Chrisitan Lemon, from the Lemon Brothers, a religious band that loves gyms and protein.
‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’ Ending Explained: What Had Possessed Gretchen?
Andras is the 63rd entity in the Lesser Key of Solomon. This demon is the Grand Marquis of Hell, and it commands 30 legions of demons. Clearly, a very powerful entity possessed Gretchen and was chased back to hell with a poorly performed exorcism and some cringe-worthy made-up chants of what they believed in. The demon was then burnt to a crisp by Abby, using perfume and some alcohol to make up a flame. It was all very showy and flashy that took away an all-powerful demon from poor Gretchen. The demon reminded me of the Horcrux of Voldemort in the King’s Cross station after Harry Potter died for a minute there. It also kind of felt like the demon would shout “My Precious” when it jumped on Gretchen, though. I got Gollum vibes throughout that scene. They should’ve called the cast of “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter” to deal with the demon rather than leaving Abby to do the exorcism when she clearly did not know what she was doing. Ah, the same old cliche storyline of the kid having to do something they have never done before, only to end up excelling at it, and all becomes well.
Final Conclusion
The film, although set in the 1980s, has a more modern feel to it. Stereotypes do not make it better. The characters were utterly one-dimensional. The film can be perceived more as a parody of the other horror films of the same genre due to the exaggerated character gimmicks portrayed throughout its runtime. However, if it’s not a parody, well, the storyline doesn’t have much to give. It lacks logic and also showcases amateur behavior while dealing with a so-called all-powerful demon. “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” does advocate body positivity by also following the trends from the 1980s, but it screams more 2020s than the 1980s. The film just does not click with the time stamp. I guess “Stranger Things” had a hugely adverse effect on the entire population, so much so that a lot of the film directors are obsessing over the tried and tested cliches of 1980s horror. I mean, the film is good for a one-time watch, but it kinda feels like a rip-off of the cult classics “The Exorcist” and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” If somebody really wants to watch a movie about exorcisms, I’d recommend rewatching the cult classics or the documentaries. It saves time and is entertaining too.
“My Best Friend’s Exorcism” is a 2022 Drama Comedy film directed by Damon Thomas.
