The Seventh Day (2021)

Directed by: Justin P. Lange | 87 minutes | horror | Actors: Guy Pearce, Vadhir Derbez, Stephen Lang, Brady Jenness, Robin Bartlett, Keith David, Chris Galust, Acoryé White, Tristan Riggs, Heath Freeman, Hannah Alline, James Healy Jr.

The most striking aspect of ‘The Seventh Day’ is the casting of Keith David. This African American is quite underrated in Hollywood and deserves much more credit for his acting. This giant was in classics like ‘The Thing’, ‘They Live’ and ‘Requiem For A Dream’. It’s nice to see this man in a movie again. Unfortunately, ‘The Seventh Day’ is not a film that will put David on the map with a large audience. This exorcism film is too ordinary for that.

‘The Seventh Day’ revolves around an experienced exorcist (Guy Pearce) who takes care of an intern (Vadhir Derbez). This collaboration does not go smoothly, because the methods used by the veteran are rather dubious. Hope it turns out fine…

Director Justin P. Lange has managed to drum up a captivating cast for this film. In addition to David and Pearce, Stephen Lang is also on the payroll. The actors are good, but the script is not. You could think of ‘The Seventh Day’ as a sort of ‘Training Day’ with priests. However, it never gets that exciting or intense. Pearce doesn’t feel like it and sleepwalks through the film. He gets bad counterplay from the rather inexperienced Vadhir Derbez.

When Lang and David are in the picture, it gets better, but ‘The Seventh Day’ doesn’t really go anywhere. The film relies a lot on jumpscares and that gets irritating. Increasing loud noises is different from building tension.

To the credit of the director, he wanted to breathe new life into the worn-out exorcism genre, but he doesn’t succeed in watching a film that stays with you. It never gets exciting and neither creepy or gross. What remains is a weak film with a more than competent cast. However, they deserved a better movie.