October is always a great month for horror movies, and 2022’s has already seen the release of Halloween Ends, Terrifier 2, and Hellraiser, among others. Just on the eve of Halloween, we also got the release of Prey for the Devil.
The new film from the director of The Last Exorcism tells the story of a nun who faces off with the devil and seeks to become the only living woman to perform exorcisms. If you’re hoping to know where Prey for the Devil goes from there, keep reading.
Warning: Spoilers below for the ending of Prey for the Devil.
Prey for the Devil opens with our main character, Ann, as a young child. Her mother is trying to pry her way into Ann’s bedroom, but there’s clearly something wrong with Ann. Eventually, we come to realize that Ann’s mother is possessed, although she was officially diagnosed as schizophrenic.
In the present, Ann is working in Boston at one of the only schools for exorcism outside of Rome. Exorcism classes are restricted to men, though, so Ann works as a nun and also a nurse, tending to the many people who seem to be possessed and wind up at the school. Ann is eventually confronted by a man who is possessed, and the fact that she was attacked by a demon without provoking it suggests to the local cardinal that there’s something unusual about her.
As a result, Ann is allowed to sit in on exorcism courses, and even gets to observe one unfold. The exorcism in question is of a young girl named Natalie, who Ann has already struck up a relationship with. Two male priests, Father Raymond and Father Dante, are initially sent into her room to perform the exorcism, but when they are overpowered, Ann steps in and the demon is cast aside.
It’s unclear whether Natalie has been freed of her demon, but Father Dante is impressed enough that he asks Ann to help her perform another exorcism without the permission of the church: This time on his sister. She agrees, and the exorcism initially appears to be a success. The next day, though, Dante’s sister dies by suicide, and Ann agrees to return to her convent to avoid doing further damage.
We also learn that Ann was pregnant when she joined the convent, and gave her child up for adoption. When Dante shows up at the convent, Ann learns that Natalie is not actually free of her demon. Instead, the demon has given Dante a message: Bring in Ann. Ann realizes that Natalie is in fact the daughter she gave up for adoption, and she agrees to return to perform an exorcism on her.
Ann ultimately allows Natalie’s demon to enter her body, and while it initially seems to overpower her, she’s eventually able to defeat it by remembering the power of her own spirit. Father Raymond is killed, but Dante, Ann, and Natalie all make it out alive. Ann is then allowed to become the first woman in centuries to study exorcism, and the movie ends with her discovering that the devil may not be done with her just yet after she’s confronted by two possessed people while in a taxi on her way out of Boston.
Prey for the Devil is not playing in theaters nationwide.
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