The Exorcist: Believer Ending Explained- Gullible Choices

The final scenes of The Exorcist: Believer feature a climactic exorcism that determines the lives of Katherine and Angela, the two girls possessed by demons in the film. This sequel follows their families, who are connected by Victor, a man who seeks out Chris MacNeil for her experience with the original exorcism that took place half a century ago.
As the girls’ conditions worsen, their parents and various spiritual figures must work together to save them from the evil within. The film does not have a post-credits scene, but it reveals shocking hints at more stories in the future.
After Katherine stabs Chris in the eyes, leaving her out of the final fight, Victor gathers a diverse group of people from different faiths and backgrounds to perform the ultimate exorcism.
The film’s conclusion is a satisfying resolution to the main plot and opens up new possibilities for future sequels.

The climactic confrontation with the evil spirit happens at Victor’s home, where he has gathered Katherine, Angela, and a group of helpers. Among them are Katherine’s parents, her church pastor, Victor’s neighbor Ann, who is a former nun, a local root doctor, and another neighbor who has faith in God.
However, their plan is thrown into chaos when the Catholic priest who was supposed to lead the exorcism backs out and delegates the task to Ann.
Initially, Ann faces resistance from the demon, who taunts her about her past failures, but the healer intervenes and gives them an edge. The monster then reveals a cruel dilemma: only one of the girls can survive, and the others must choose who.
This echoes a tragic choice that Victor had to make in his past. While Victor and Miranda, Katherine’s mother, refuse to play along with the demon’s game, Tony, Katherine’s father, succumbs to fear and begs the demon to spare his daughter.

The demon seems to honor Tony’s choice at first, as Angela’s body rises in the air and then falls lifeless, while Katherine regains her normal voice and appearance. However, the devil has a cruel trick up its sleeve, as Angela’s heart starts beating again, but Katherine’s stops.
Despite the efforts to revive her, Katherine is snatched away by death. Tony’s fatal dilemma in The Exorcist: Believer echoes the one Victor faced in his past, where the chosen survivor ends up dying.
The shocking twist at the end of The Exorcist: Believer connects to the movie’s first scene, where Victor’s wife dies in a Haiti earthquake. She was pregnant and horribly injured, and Victor had to choose who to save: his wife or unborn daughter. His wife begged him to keep the baby, and Angela’s survival 13 years later suggests his course of action.
However, during the exorcism, the demon reveals the truth: Victor picked his wife, not Angela, but the baby lived anyway. This changes everything about Victor and Angela’s relationship. Angela didn’t know this before, but it makes sense why Victor is so careful and attentive to her now.

Angela’s ordeal with the exorcism ends with a hopeful note as she resumes her everyday life at school. However, Katherine’s fate in The Exorcist: Believer is far bleaker. The film suggests that she is dragged to the infernal realm after her demise.
We see her in the forest once more before she is submerged by countless hands that pull her down. This seems to be a symbolic depiction of Katherine’s descent to Hell, where she is doomed to suffer as the sacrificial victim of the demons. It remains to be seen if The Exorcist: Believer will mark the final appearance of Katherine in the franchise or if her hellish fate will have any bearing on the sequel.
One of the most shocking and satisfying moments of the movie’s finale is the unexpected comeback of Linda Blair as Regan in The Exorcist: Believer. The film drops several hints about Regan’s fate after the events of The Exorcist, but she remains a hidden figure for most of the story.
Luckily, The Exorcist: Believer reveals that Regan is alive and well by featuring her in a brief cameo. In one of the final scenes, Regan is seen embracing Chris. Can it be a sign that we see more of her in future sequels?
The Exorcist: Believer leaves the audience wondering about the true identity of the demonic force that takes over Katherine and Angela. The film hints that Chris has faced this evil spirit before, but it does not reveal its name.
Although some may assume that it is Pazuzu, the same demon from the original movie, this is not the case. Director David Gordon Green confirmed this in an interview with IGN, but he did not disclose the name of the new demon either. The Exorcist: Believer keeps the mystery of the monster alive throughout the film.

The Exorcist: Believer sets the stage for a new trilogy of terror, and its conclusion hints at what will come in the next installment. The sequel, titled The Exorcist: Deceiver, will likely reveal that the demon’s death offer was not as straightforward as it seemed. The priest warns that the devil is a liar, so perhaps Katherine and Angela are not truly free from its influence.
The demon will surely come back to haunt them or someone else, exploiting the sorrow that Katherine’s parents feel.
The Exorcist: Deceiver will also explore the long-awaited reunion between Chris and Regan, who briefly appear in this film. The return of Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn is a major draw for fans of the original movie, and they had a lot of input on the new trilogy.
Although their involvement in the sequel is not officially confirmed, it is clear that they are meant to play a more prominent role. The question is whether The Exorcist: Deceiver will focus more on the MacNeil family or keep Victor, Angela, and other characters in the spotlight.

The Exorcist: Believer does not shy away from showing the gruesome consequences of the possession, but it also offers a hopeful message that trusting in the good, and even God, can make a difference. The film shows how Victor, a skeptical journalist, changes his outlook when he witnesses the power of the exorcism and feels a connection with his daughter through his wife’s scarf.
It all ends with a voice-over narration by Ann Dowd, who explains that believing is the key to overcoming the darkness. Eerily moving, right?

About The Exorcist: Believer

The Exorcist: Believer is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by David Gordon Green and written by Green and Peter Sattler, from a story by Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and Green.

The sixth installment in The Exorcist franchise, it serves as a direct sequel to the original 1973 film, while disregarding all previous installments. The film stars Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, Lidya Jewett, and Olivia Marcum (in her film debut), along with Ellen Burstyn reprising her role from the original film as Chris MacNeil.

The Exorcist: Believer is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on October 6, 2023. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, who collectively believe the film did not reach the height of the original film.