The Cleansing Hour (2019)

October 21, 2020 12:56 AM

Two entrepreneurs stage elaborate fake exorcisms on social media until one of them ends up being real.

Childhood friends Max and Drew host The Cleansing Hour, a popular livestream show where "Father Max" exorcises a possessed person each episode. In reality, each possession is fake. They are carefully scripted and orchestrated to entice viewers to like and follow their videos and purchase goods.

Max is obsessed with drawing as large a crowd as possible and gaining a bigger following. Drew's fiancée Lane is unhappy but supportive, even going so far as to agree to step in as the possessed person when the actor for their latest episode doesn't show.

But when Lane shows signs of actual possession, suddenly the viewer count skyrockets as Max and Drew engage in a real spiritual battle for the first time.

posted by miss-lapin (2 comments total)

Movies like this annoy me because they make no sense. Wouldn't a demon be thrilled with faked exorcisms? Why would they go to the trouble of proving demons and by extension heaven and hell are real? Whatever evil is perpetrated is short term and will trigger an embracing of god and religion.

I wondered for a moment if the possession might be by an angel masquerading a demon, which would be interesting and make more sense.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:37 PM on October 21, 2020

I think the general idea was that the demon would be more thrilled by the proof that they exist, and the proof that god has no power over them, via a failed exorcism.

I loved the searchable database of demonic rituals, such a stupid and over-complicated thing for what is, up to this event, an entirely scripted process. The ending really won me over with it's just over-the-top absurdity.
posted by graventy at 11:18 AM on October 23, 2020 [1 favorite]