Rating: B
Dir: Alper Mestçi
Star: Merve Ates, Adnan Koç, Fatih Murat Teke, Sibel Aytan
After the disappointing fifth entry, this is a real return to form, breathing fresh life into the franchise. What’s interesting, is that unlike the previous films which were all entirely standalone, this is tied quite closely to Siccin 3: Forbidden Love. There, Orhan (Koç) summoned an ifrit to replace his dead wife. It did not go well. However, he did at least survive, and returns here, sadder, wiser and repentant for his sins. This eventually turns him – after the required amounts of soul-searching and theological discussion – into someone best described as the John Wick of exorcists. The way this ends leaves me quite sorry there have not been any further entries in the franchise since.
To get there, he has to help a family where it seems every member has issues. And when I say “issues”, I mean trauma-based psychological problems, which manifest themselves – you will not be at all surprised to hear – in spectacular nightmares and hallucinations. For instance, Grandpa has guilt over a failed euthanization attempt on his wife, during her painful terminal illness. Auntie Canan (Aytan) is tormented by her inability to have children. Teenage daughter Efsun (Ates, in her fourth entry, and mercifully without the white wig this time) thinks she is possessed by an evil spirit. It’s not just the women. Dad Yasar (Teke) keeps cracking up at work, with old crones gleefully telling him, “I’m haunting your daughter because of your wife.”
Yeah, there are a slew of jump scares and dream sequences, but the execution of these is generally so good, they still work despite being less than subtle. Some of the imagery here is really good, such as where Yasar gets lost in an ever-changing maze of crates. But the finest is where the aunt is menaced by an army of blood-drenched creepy dolls, taunting her in unison as they crawl toward her (top): “You are not going to have children, Canan”. It’s one of the most striking scenes I’ve seen in a horror movie in the past five years. It helps that the performances are all good. I want to highlight Kurtuluş Şakirağaoğlu as Orhan’s spiritual advisor, who delivers difficult dialogue in a compelling fashion.
However, the film belongs to Ates, in what might be the best depiction of a conflicted teenager this side of The Exorcist. She manages to be sympathetic: when she sits down beside Yasar and tells him “I don’t want you to die,” it’s entirely convincing. However, she also has the capacity to make Efsun a credible terrifying entity when necessary. It’s rare to see an actor, of any age, able to operate on both ends of the spectrum. By the point Orhan shows up, and the two halves of the plot here finally link up, we are more than ready for a final showdown, pitting good against evil. What we get should prove satisfying to most viewers. If this is the end of the franchise, it’s a solid way to bow out.