Prey for the Devil

Prey for the Devil

In response to a global rise in demonic possessions, the Catholic Church reopens exorcism schools to train priests in the Rite of Exorcism. On this spiritual battlefield, an unlikely warrior rises: a young nun, Sister Ann. Thrust onto the spiritual frontline with fellow student Father Dante, Sister Ann finds herself in a battle for the soul of a young girl and soon realizes the Devil has her right where he wants her.

  • Released: 2022-10-28
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Horror, Thrillers
  • Stars: Jacqueline Byers, Virginia Madsen, Ben Cross, Colin Salmon, Christian Navarro, Nicholas Ralph, Lisa Palfrey, Tom Forbes, Velizar Binev, Owen Davis, Debora Zhecheva, Cora Kirk, Posy Taylor, Elizabeth Gibson
  • Director: Daniel Stamm
 Comments
  • john-ostrander - 3 April 2024
    No offense, but their performances were terrible
    I am not a huge fan of the Exorcist, but at least the creators attempted for some semblance of realism in the movie. The Rites of Exorcism, the faith of the Exorcist performing the Rites, and the prayers are all from the Bible and when they do this, the story becomes real because these rituals have been developed for over 2000 years. When the viewer watches, it may hit on some familiar notes from church, Sunday school, or stories they might know. When you make something appear realistic, it is all the more scary, suspensful, and exciting.

    Then we fast forward to the 2020s, which so far is a decade that will be remembered when music, movies, and TV withered and died.

    The hipster priest, hanging out after work in Tshirt and pants with the nun who was a single mother makes for an all inclusive and diverse film. I mean, we all change out of uniform when we punch out right? In the words of Xander Cage (XXX, 2001) "No offense, but their performances were terrible!"

    The fear in the faces of the exorcists, the amateurish approach to demonic possession, and the character building all sum up to an unrealistic and poorly developed storyline. Rather than trying to make this movie about possession and the Catholic Church, it should have just gone a different tangent and been 100% fantasy instead, and left the rituals and such out of it. It's wholly unbelievable. As such, the effects and plot were too predictable, and not scary. The acting leaves something to be desired.

    One constant about exorcisms is the priest has faith, and that faith protects him (this is in all the Exorcist movies) there wasn't any of that here. Speaking of which, I'm losing all faith in Hollywood making good movies again any time soon.
  • Elvis-Del-Valle - 27 October 2023
    Redemption of a nun
    It really isn't a different exorcism movie, since many are always about the same thing. What is very favorable about this film is that it presents an interesting concept involving a nun with a severe childhood trauma. What the film presents is really good and although there have been no positive reactions to it, the possibility that there are nuns involved in the world of exorcisms cannot be denied. That is something that has rarely been seen, including The Nun films. The fact that there is some kind of restriction that Ann ends up defying is not what drives the film, but rather Ann's desire to find redemption, proving that she may be worthy of facing evil as many priests do. The story of the film tries to show that despite the rules of the Catholic Church, both men and women can serve God in the fight against the devil, because in the eyes of God we are all equal. Prey For The Devil is an acceptable exorcism film that serves to further explore the world of the Catholic religion and its fight against evil. My final rating for this movie is a 9/10.
  • cruise01 - 13 July 2023
    Scareless, effortless, and you ll want to prey for it to finish.
    2 out of 5 stars.

    Prey for the Devil is a bad supernatural horror film that lacks the scares, forgettable plot, and has a dull script that lacks any characterization.

    A plot about a nun practicing on exorcisms after she struggled with a past after her mother was possessed. When she sees a young girl being targeted by a demonic possession. She begins to take action on trying to save her.

    The film effortly lacks the scares. Or thrills. It tried for some cheap jump scares and it failed at it. The plot is forgettable. The script is dull in making the characters feeling like cardboard characters. The acting and cast ensemble is completely flat.

    Overall, it is a film that is worth skipping.
  • deloudelouvain - 28 December 2022
    Another possession movie, but worth watching.
    After reading quite a lot of negative reviews I didn't have too high expectations for Prey For The Devil, but I'm glad I gave it a chance because it turned out to be much better than those bad reviews made it sound like. Possession movies, there are just a lot of bad ones and only a few really good ones. This one is certainly worth watching if you like this genre. The possession scenes were well made, quite creepy sometimes and that's what makes these movies stand out from the rest. The story itself is obviously déjà vu so no surprise here but it's all well done. As for the acting it wasn't bad at all. Glad I watched Prey For The Devil, again a proof I shouldn't pay too much attention to very negative reviews as there are just a lot of people that are never satisfied.
  • legobuilderpro - 20 December 2022
    A standard exorcism
    Prey for the Devil (2022) felt like another standard exorcist movie, which is disappointing to know that all these exorcist movies feel the same and follow a similar idea and plot.

    The acting in the movie is fine for what the film is aiming for, but it could be better. The main character has a backstory connected to the demon that is ok but could have been focused on more, and the other characters were standard.

    The effects in the movie are not great and looked fake. The editing in the movie would also be weird in how it was put together, and how certain scenes would go to the following scene with edits that would cut in the middle of the scene.

    The 3rd act was hard to see, and the ending was standard in how it played out. This movie is not necessary in watching or using up your time to watch it, mostly because it just feels like any other exorcist movie with a similar plot and in the way it is executed.
  • Tweetienator - 17 December 2022
    Demonic Possession Light
    Prey for the Devil is not that bad - the acting is mostly solid, there is also some production value, and here and there we get some nice "demonic possession" effects. Where Prey for the Devil does not deliver is a strong and really thrilling story, it's rather a formulaic piece - despite some twist that is revealed. Also the soundtrack and/or sound design is rather a mediocre piece of work that could have contributed more to a dark and creepy atmosphere if better done. Anyway, The Exorcist (1973) directed by William Friedkin is still the benchmark to that line of movies and Prey for the Devil is no match to that one, but if you are in strong need for that kind of story you may dare to give this one a try, just don't expect something exceptional. Last but not least: the level on the horror-o-meter is also a rather low one. Exact rate: 3.5/10.
  • Xstal - 13 December 2022
    Formulaic & Feeble...
    If you're possessed by evil spirits you might go, to a place where exorcists expunge your foe, with the power of the cross, they will make you turn and toss, until the beast is forced to flee your scarred torso (or you die). Ann works in this place and she's a nun, you have to say, it doesn't look too much like fun, but her faith is firm and strong, although she has her own demon, the events of her past life can't be undone.

    Far from original and not particularly rewarding although the performances are fine and the metaphors make sense but I'm not sure in this day and age certain institutions have that much relevance anymore, if indeed they ever did!
  • freedomwriter-11442 - 19 November 2022
    Watched it so you don't have to
    This is actually a good idea where a nun is gifted to be an exorcist, but the whole storyline, the direction of the movie was poorly told and poorly executed.

    15 minutes into the movie, you can sense that it was all about the nun, she was the powerful one even with an experienced priest/ exorcist, she can actually performing exorcism with unorthodox way. Too much focus on her and make all other characters look useless and weak.

    The whole movie the environment did have that eerie aura and some jump scare part, but a true horror movie fan will definitely find this movie cliché and boring.

    When she was officially an exorcist, no more nun uniform at the end I wonder why, the movie trying so hard to make her look cool with the cool silver hair, kind of like trying hard to make her the female version of Constantine. The conclusion is, don't watch.
  • nmwaguryut - 6 November 2022
    Solid exorcism movie
    Very solid take on an exorcism type of movie. Enjoyed the possession scenes, story was predictable but didn't distract from a decent movie. I would have rated it an 8 had there have been a bit deeper dive into her backstory, rather than a few minute scene. Considering the importance of it toward the ending, movie could have been an extra 10-15 minutes long to solidly add to the story. Acting was solid and enjoyed a female lead as an exorcist. I easily could see them doing another movie with her as the lead. Enjoyed it and think the bad reviews are harping it too much for what kind of movie it is. Sometimes I feel people want an Oscar winner when it's a solid horror movie.