Despite what you think about possession movies, the new one from director Lee Daniels called The Deliverance is drowned in an eerie atmosphere. The film, which just dropped on Netflix, has already dominated social media posts. Most of those are responses to Glenn Close’s now famous line.
Andra Day plays struggling mother Ebony Jackson who moves into an Indiana home with her three children and her mother Alberta played by Close. The family not only struggles with Jackon’s troubled past, but they also find themselves battling a demon who feeds off of the situation to possess one or more of her family members
Before we go any further, there are spoilers below and some very foul and inappropriate language.
The Deliverance isn’t the first to tackle this kind of horror, but it has the distinctness of setting the supernatural occurrences inside an African American home.
It is revealed that Close has cancer and on top of that becomes possessed. While being exorcised, she sniffs the air and casually turns to the pastor, and says, “I can smell your nappy pussy.” It’s a shocking line that has the internet abuzz. Arguably, not since 12-year-old Linda Blair uttered her startling words in The Exorcist has movie dialog while possessed crossed a line with audiences.
The film’s director Lee Daniels has responded to criticisms about making Close utter those words, saying simply, he, “Had to do it.”
He added that Close plays an important role in the film. “Every Black person knows an Alberta. She’s part of the fabric of our community, but we’ve never seen her on screen before. Thank you Glenn for bringing her magnificently to life.”
Close has been in movies for almost 50 years. She is no stranger to taking controversial roles. In 1987 she played Alex Forrest, the obsessed lover of Michael Douglas in Fatal Attraction. In that movie, she boils the family pet in an act of revenge.
In 1996 she threatened to kill more animals, this time puppies, as Cruella DeVil in Disney’s 101 Dalmatians. She returned to that role in 2000 for the sequel.
Her latest role in The Deliverance just shows her range as an actress. She has done everything from Shakespeare (Hamlet) to The Simpsons, to Broadway (Sunset Boulevard). Perhaps it’s not the line itself that is so uncomfortable, but how well Close expertly delivered it.
What do you think? How did that line in the movie affect you?
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