Posted on 09/05/2026 7:20:30 PM PDT by rlmorel
Official Summary: On the day of his scheduled execution, a convicted serial killer gets a psychiatric evaluation during which he claims he is a demon, and further claims that before their time is over, the psychiatrist will commit three murders of his own.
This movie came out in 2023, and I had never heard of it. Here is what the jacket looks like:
This sure looks like the kind of movie I barely even pause for, the kind I scroll right past.
That is because normally, I am not interested in "Horror" movies, which this movie was classified officially as. As a kid, I kind of enjoyed horror movies, but as I got older, I came to accept that in real life, there was more real-life horror present than any kind of movie could ever present to me.
Why would I need to accentuate evil in this world by watching a movie?
I heard about this movie from an American Thinker article: So Much Evil! Still Don’t Believe in the Devil? Evil is out there. But so are the signs of good by Alicia Colon.
The American Thinker article linked to above is about what so many of us see as evil uncovering its face in the Lindsay Clancy trial in a most public way. We saw it recently in women in Massachusetts with their joyful celebration of Maura Healy authorizing abortion up to birth, and I know for a fact I was far from the only person who viewed that discordant display of misplaced joy with both revulsion, horror, and shame.
And then this. These pink-shirted females expressing support for this woman who placed these three children face down on the floor, and strangled them one-by-one with exercise bands:
This evil crime, and those who wish to find a way to excuse it, is a modern expression of evil that is a harbinger of a deeper corruptness and evil in our society, no-our world, that is a poison on our soul.
It is in this context that I read that American Thinker article above, and was prompted by this excerpt below to watch this movie:
"...A few years ago, I watched a fascinating film called, “Nefarious,” that clearly explained what is happening in the world today.
There is a battle between good and evil being waged and the evidence of that is clearly seen in the daily news reports. Pick up a New York newspaper and you will read reports of innocent people being pushed in front of subway trains or stabbed for absolutely no reason. The cover of yesterday’s New York Post is about a woman shot dead by the NYPD after she stabbed two strangers in Times Square, killing one.
The film Nefarious is basically about a demon explaining how the Devil works on seducing humans into evil by bribing them with whatever we desire. He also explains that demons hate humans because God loves us. and what his plan is for the human race.
It is a powerful film and I highly recommend it..."
I am on a journey to Christ, and this excerpt above from Alicia Colon's article insinuated itself into all the threads that are being woven in my mind, specifically with respect to the concepts of Good and Evil.
I am a Conservative. I don't need to drink any Kool-Aid on it. I started out in my young life with conservative principles ingrained in me. We can all agree that conservatives in this country (and elsewhere) are subjected to lifelong propaganda and indoctrination from Teachers, Media, and Government that conservatives are wrong about everything. Over my life, I have come to view this as a blessing in disguise.
I say that, because this unending, nonstop stream of propaganda and criticism by the Left has forced me to examine, reexamine, and examine again my premises and beliefs. Like many of you, I have not been able to rest on my laurels and relax.
I have been forced to engage in introspection on an ongoing basis for decades. And today, I am able to view that as a wonderful thing. Leftists have no such "blessing in disguise". It is a wonderful freedom for the intellectually lazy and emotionally incontinent (as it turns out many of them are) They have no such burden of introspection, asking themselves "Could I be wrong about all this?"
As such (as a Conservative) I have come to the conclusion that the subject of Evil (which is the subject of this film "Nefarious") is what is called a "cleavage point". That is, the point you could put a chisel on, tap it with a hammer, and things will split evenly into two pieces. In this case, putting the chisel to "Evil" and striking it with a mallet splits humans into two types:
They believe we are all manifestly good under the skin. These same people believe that if you fix our human societies, and remove the imperfections such as racism, sexism, bigotry, poverty, and so on, that the good that is inherent in every single person will overcome any evil that might develop.
They believe that if they can alter society to remove bad things by trying to shape and mold human behavior...to engineer it, that they can produce a Utopia of peace, equality, prosperity, and happiness.
We as Conservatives believe that Evil is inherent in human nature. It can't be "engineered out. And even good people, given the right circumstances, can do Evil things. We accept that any one of us could be those Nazi Concentration Camp Guards, if all tumblers lined up.
It is why we revere what the Founders of this nation accomplished when they created and implemented the US Constitution. That document, all by itself, shows that the Founders were profoundly Conservative by nearly any metric. It shows that they innately and intuitively understood that power, any power, even in the hands of people viewed as manifestly "Good" who may have only the best of intentions, can become corrupted and misused power, and they endeavored to engineer the Constitution to remove as much of the risk that Lord Acton later recognized so clearly with his famous observation nearly 100 years after we ratified our Constitution that "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
That is why this movie caught my eye and compelled me to watch it that very night. We see very real Evil in this world. And it is being openly foisted on us by parts of our government (as was done by Governor Maura Healy in Massachusetts) even as other parts of our governments are battling it. And this movie is all about evil.
In the movie, a very real flesh-and-blood man sentenced to death, openly states he is a demon, engaging in demonic possession. Evil in our world, right in front of us. The Psychiatrist, obviously does not believe him because he is, himself, an atheist. No such things as "Demons" in his world.
Kind of like ours, right now.
90% of this movie takes place in one room, an interview room in the prison as the murderer (Edward Wayne Brady) on Death Row awaiting execution that evening is being interviewed by a psychiatrist (Dr. James Martin) on a last minute legal maneuver to have him evaluated to see if he is sane enough to be executed. As it says in the official summary for the movie, the prisoner wants to be executed. He doesn't want to be found insane. He has a purpose for wishing to be executed.
Nearly the whole movie is dialog. The two of them sitting across a metal table from each other. It isn't for everyone. We are too used to fast paced movies, with green screen CGI going on, car chases and such. But it isn't. And I was expecting it to be just that, but it isn't. Just discourse on the nature of God and this world he created.
I thought the movie was absolutely brilliant. Just brilliant. And because it meshed so closely with the specific nature of these theological paths I am going down (as well as what we see in the news today) I was entranced by this discourse between a man claiming to be a demon, and the Psychiatrist who was ostensibly sent there to evaluate him, but as we find out, there was more to it than that.
The actor playing the murderer was fantastic. The closest comparison I can make is to the "Joker" character played by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight Batman movie. The movie was panned by critics (for reasons that should be wholly obvious to anyone who is a conservative) but I believe if the core material was not something that would be rejected by the Left and their community root and branch, this man would have won an Oscar.
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My fianceé introduced me to it the other night, and for a movie with a $1 million budget, it was fantastic. In the end, I felt bad for Edward. He seemed like he wanted to repent, but couldn’t due to his... Companion.
I’m not even a believer and I thought it was an amazingly horrifying film. I was raised a Cathloic and remember enough to understand the gravity of what had happened to Edward, and found myself frustrated with James (and that terrible excuse for a priest). Despite my lack of belief, I’m more than open to the fact that I could be wrong. Humans aren’t perfect, and part of that is acknowledging we can potentially be wrong. James was too proud to consider it. I suppose that was part of why Nefariamus wanted him though, right?
The whole thing did ultimately cause him to make some changes, though, temporary as they may have been.
Lindsey Clancy case—do people have any clue how long it takes to STRANGLE someone? It is not a quick process.
And Lindswy Clancy, demon parent, made the decision to strangle three children, THREE times.
Plenty of intent there. THREE TIMES she decided to strangle a child.
GUILTY. Not crazy. EVIL.
This is not really a horror movie. It’s not a movie done for entertainment, but for education. It’s a Christian movie that lays out the reality and nature of evil in this dying world using current themes. There’s symbolism throughout that points to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and Satan’s attempt to mimic God with counterfeits. I’m waiting for the sequel.
I think Whittaker Chambers’ “Witness” should be rquired reading for a college degree and for all military officers. When I ask people if they have read it and they have never even heard of it, I am dumbfounded. It was one of the most terrifying books I have ever read.
I avoid evil, and evil movies.
So powerful!
Scott Pecks people of the lie belongs here.
I thought it was excellent and some great acting for a change.
After watching Shawn Ryan’s podcast with father Dan we watched the movie again.
I would have never watched it again if he did not suggest it.
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” - Ephesians 6:12We ourselves will be the downfall of the American dream. It won’t be climate change, Communism, economic inequality, wars, or even AI. It will be because most of the country does not understand exactly what it is that made us “GREAT” in the first place……. Trust in the God of the Bible and belief in what Jesus Christ taught. Your post and comments clearly demonstrate and remind us of this. I also enjoyed reading your FR profile. Allow me to add a suggested book to those already mentioned here.
“The Altar of Pergamon” by Johnathon Cahn
It tells of the unseen forces at work and moving behind the events of the modern world. Cahn writes this thru a fiction story, but the historical facts and Biblical references are all true and accurate. It tells about the very real altar that was erected 2000 years ago in Turkey for who we know as “the devil”, and how was moved to Berlin in the 19th century by German archaeologists, who evidently had an easy time getting permission for its removal from the indifferent authorities of the Ottoman empire. It now sits in Berlin because Hitler believed it would bring him supernatural powers. The spiritual evil came along with it resulting in two world wars and the terror Hitler and then the spread of Communism. Remember the backdrop of Obama’s acceptance speech? It resembled a Greek Temple? But it actually was somewhat a recreation of the Alter of Pergamon.
I maybe mistaken but I thought Glenn Beck and Steve Deace were involved with the making of this movie. I thought they talked about it while it was being made and when it came out.
I thought the movie was the best that year.
The ending left me feeling great.
“Remember the backdrop of Obama’s acceptance speech? It resembled a Greek Temple?”
Remember the backdrop of Biden’s Battle for the Soul of the Nation speech, which looked like actual Hell?
We saw that movie when it came out. We liked it — there was a lot to think about. It seems that it was longer ago than 2023, but I guess not.
It was more cerebral than The Exorcist, which scared the crap out of me. Over the years I’ve had friends who were/are missionaries in foreign places, and have heard of their experiences with people being possessed, and how they dealt with it.
Great to hear you’re very well-acquainted with Sowell and Lewis.
Absent-mindedly I neglected to mention something I personally rate more helpful than what I previously mentioned.
What the Bible Teaches About Spiritual Warfare
- a book that capably critiques and debunks many wildly popular, often empirically-based misconceptions about Satan and demons.
Available as a top-rated paperback at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1964184193
Also available as a free pdf download. Very handy as an easily computer-searchable document:
Go to: https://deanbibleministries.org/component/rsform/form/12-book-order-form?Itemid=134
In the left-hand column, scroll down to the box that says:
“What the Bible Teaches About Spiritual Warfare is now available to download in PDF format by clicking here.”
Or, on that same web page, in the middle column, the book can be ordered as a free paperback.
(If you order from that site, don’t worry; they won’t stick you on a mailing list or sell your info or bother you in any other way.)
Didn’t see anything about that but there are 3 NEFARIOUS films. 2016. 2020. And this one 2023
Thank you-I will absolutely explore this.
Thanks.
Nefarious is worth a watch. It is a rarity: a truly philosophical movie, the bulk of which consists of two men sitting across a table and talking theology.
Some people label it a psychological horror film, which is accurate enough. Some label it a Christian movie, which is fair enough.
But taking a step back, it is expositional to a degree rarely seen in movies. The central dialogue is a debate, with the antagonists very clearly articulating a position.
The reviews — both from critics and viewers — are revealing. The secularists HATE this movie. They review bombed it. (This is one of those movies where you should simply laugh at the ratings.)
It is clear that most of the critical viewers — if they actually watched it at all, which many clearly didn’t — have no comprehension of it ... primarily because they wish to live in a denial of the reality of evil. That doesn’t mean it’s a great movie — I’m not sure how I would rate it cinematically, and it seems beside the point to try — but it is a first rate exposition.
It is a movie that was designed to be discussed. But the secularists will refuse to do that, because it exposes them.
I don’t recall if I posted to the movie ping list when Nefarious came out; I do recall that I saw it while on the road and was out of pocket for a week, so I may have let it go by. Some of the regulars have already weighed in, but it’s easy to miss a thread. I’ll loop the list in here for those who may have missed this one.
Two men sitting across a table talking theology ... and the comparison that springs to mind is Conspiracy (2001), which is a whole roomful of men, most in uniform, sitting around a conference table and talking. Evil IS a commanding presence.
“Nefarious” is a 2023 American independent Christian horror-thriller film written and directed
by Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, based on Steve Deace’s 2016 novel “A Nefarious Plot.”
It stars Jordan Belfi as a psychiatrist who must determine if a convicted death
row inmate (Sean Patrick Flanery) is faking his alleged demonic possession.
The film was released on April 14, 2023.
Iirc, Glenn Beck has a cameo at the end of the movie. In which he plays himself.
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