Director Mike Flanagan has shed light on the upcoming horror film, The Exorcist: Martyrs, clarifying its relationship with the franchise's past installments, particularly the 2023 film The Exorcist III. While the new trailer showcases clear nods to the 1990 sequel, Flanagan insists the film is designed to be a standalone experience.
During a discussion with IGN, Flanagan explained that The Exorcist: Martyrs was intentionally crafted to be accessible to audiences unfamiliar with the previous films. "It is absolutely a self-contained story that is utterly accessible and hopefully thrilling for people who have no knowledge of The Exorcist III, or even frankly of Friedkin's film or Blatty's original novel," he stated. However, he also noted that dedicated fans will find subtle connections. "There's a thread for the super fans to pick up that runs all the way back through the Exorcist III to Friedkin's original for those who are excited by those things."
Flanagan expressed his admiration for The Exorcist III, calling it an "awesome movie" and his favorite in the franchise outside of the original. He is particularly drawn to its unique blend of genres. "The thing is that Blatty, both in the novel Legion on which it's based, and then in the film which he directed, is starting to play with the synthesis of two subgenres," Flanagan observed. "To harmonize a serial killer investigative thriller with the demonic possession story is something that I think that movie first tries to introduce and gives us a chance to truly run with, and that was irresistible."
The trailer features Scarlett Johansson's character investigating crime scenes with distinct religious iconography, reminiscent of the serial killer motifs in The Exorcist III. Flanagan elaborated on the significance of Rivera, the serial killer within the film, whose crimes initially appear to be solved by Johansson's character but begin to recur in impossible ways. This resurfacing case draws her back in over a decade later, intertwining the investigation with demonic possession.
Flanagan discussed the core theme of evil's incursion, both on a personal level and into society. "I think that's kind of at the very heart of every possession story, the incursion of evil onto the human heart, and in this case the human body, into the safety of the family and into innocence itself," he said. He highlighted that unlike protagonists in many possession stories who are paralyzed by horror, Johansson's character, as a homicide detective, is compelled to confront evil directly. "Her mission, her job, and it's also who she is, and that makes for a wonderful protagonist that gets to drive this narrative into a lot of places a lot of other possession stories can't go, because there's stories of people running from the darkness, whereas ours is running into it."
The film also features Chiwetel Ejiofor as Father William, a prison chaplain, and Laurence Fishburne. Flanagan praised both actors, emphasizing the "weight" they bring to their roles in depicting the fight against profound darkness. He noted that Ejiofor, whom he previously worked with on The Life of Chuck, delivers a performance that will surprise audiences.
When asked about the film's approach to evoking terror, Flanagan pointed to the perversion of religious iconography and the unsettling concept of a world where evil is undeniably present and divine intervention is absent. "The thing that scares me about The Exorcist is that it paints a portrait of a world where Satan is clearly real and active and God seems nowhere to be found," he explained. This absence of a safety net, he believes, is what makes the concept of unchecked evil in the human world truly horrifying. He confirmed that the iconic "Tubular Bells" theme will not be featured in the film.