Tribeca 2021 screening – Screenwriters John Selvidge and Mickey Reece have redefined the exorcism genre with Agnes. How so? Allow me to explain. Sister Agnes (Hayley McFarland) and her pal Sister Mary (Molly Quinn) have a problem. The two have found refuge in a countryside convent only to have Agness become possessed by a rambunctious demon. Fidgety Mother Superior (Mary Buss) calls on the help of Father Donaghue (Ben Hall) and his strapping protegé Benjamin (Jake Horowitz) to go through the motions of banishing the spirit. Spoiler alert, things don’t go as planned. in fact, nothing does in this perplexing psychological drama tinged with horror and a dash of comedy.

The story deftly shifts focus as we follow Mary through her subsequent turmoil in a post-convent life. Dangers abound with poor Mary renting an apartment on the cheap and finding work at a local supermarket. Still, the demons in her mind persist and memories of her son haunt her. There appears to be no escape. Between making friends with her coworkers and dodging the shady advances of her supervisor she has little to find joy in. Again, just when you knew where this movie was headed, it makes a left turn and subverts expectations only to leave you with a far more rewarding experience.

Quinn, who executive produces and stars as Mary, is perfect. Her innocent countenance and doe-eyed innocence betray a swarm of emotions just under the surface. Her relentless desire for escape from the demons that haunt her plays out across her facial landscape to profound effect. Little is done externally, but a storm brews within.

John Selvidge and Mickey Reece write a script that seems to sadistically toy with our expectations. Not fully satisfied with simply telling a story, we get tonal shifts that work as a subtle distraction to where the audience thinks the story might wander. We begin with the male-centric tone of a Tarintino film centered on Hall’s sardonic Donaghue and Horowitz‘s Benjamin swooping in to save a convent of pious women. We then slip into notes of Scorsese as Mary decides to go it alone and forge a life for herself, damn the consequences. We land somewhere in the middle as our characters come to grips with the real demons that they are fleeing, be it supernatural or otherwise. This is damn good writing that is systemically glazed with shrewd direction and solid performances throughout.

This is not everyone’s exorcism movie. In fact I will say that you barely get any of that in the traditional sense. Yet we discover that there are demons that all of us are running from in some way. The question that AGNES poses is this; How do we excise them?

8 out of 10