In Devil’s Due (2014), Sam and Zach, a newlywed couple who clearly never watched Rosemary’s Baby, deal with an unexpected pregnancy that makes Sam act weird and murderous. The fact that I’m writing this in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion makes it either oddly appropriate or profoundly distasteful, not sure which. Anyway, SPOILERS!
The movie opens with a Biblical quote about the coming of the Antichrists. Yes, plural. The first time we see Zach, he’s in an interrogation room saying he didn’t do it (gee, what could “it” possibly be…). After this, we jump back to when he and Sam got married. They spend their honeymoon abroad and a local psychic freaks out Sam by telling her that she’s the one they’ve been waiting for, but of course neglects to tell them who “they” are. After that, Sam and Zach exhibit the kind of behaviour (walking in dark alleys in the middle of the night, trusting complete strangers) that usually ends in kidnapping, murder, and organ harvesting. In their case, it ends with a Satanic ritual involving Sam. The happy couple doesn’t remember anything and when they wake up the next morning in the hotel, they just think they had too much to drink.
Now back in the US, settling in their new home, Sam finds out she’s pregnant and they’re both delighted to be starting their own family. Cue nose bleeds, vegan Sam eating raw meat straight from a freshly killed deer, sudden violent behaviour, a mysterious doctor replacing the old one, stalkers, hidden cameras, telekinetic murders, sleepwalking, ancient cults, and old symbols. Sam believes there’s something wrong with the baby, but she’s slowly losing control over her actions. By the time Zach starts to investigate and figuring out WTF is going on it’s already too late.
We see the story of Sam and Zach through homemade videos, security cameras, and hidden cameras. The movie makes up an excuse for Zach’s constant filming by saying that he wants to preserve memories. Then halfway through it adds the other cameras. The weirdest sequence is when a trio of teenagers are filming themselves doing absolutely nothing in the woods and come across Sam and the deer. This is a gimmick usually used in the found footage genre, but here there’s no third party watching it. Not only there’s no reason to show everything like this, the movie would probably have been better if shot in a more traditional way.
Something I didn’t get was whether Sam had some supernatural lineage. We’re repeatedly told she has no family, she was born when her parents died in a car crash, and she knows nothing about them. Was she supposed to be Satan’s kid, too? But then wouldn’t that make her the Antichrist? Why would she need to have a baby? The last scene shows another newlywed couple, this time in Paris, meeting the same cab driver who took Sam and Zach to the ritual. They say nothing about the woman’s background, so maybe it doesn’t matter? But if it doesn’t, what was the point of emphasizing Sam’s unknown family? By the way, the couple at the end also sounds American. Aw, one more little US-born baby Antichrist. How nice of Satan to help curb the United States’ declining birth rate.
After reading the third paragraph, you’re probably convinced Devil’s Due is an awesomely creepy, scary movie. It’s not. Now you’re probably thinking it could be one of those so bad it’s good movies. Also not. Seriously, this was a difficult review to write because there’s not much to snark about here. The movie is just there. I’ve seen worse, but I’ve also seen better. Some recommendations below:
- If you want a good demonic pregnancy story, try Rosemary’s Baby (1968). Or, if you don’t want admitted child-fucker Roman Polanski to profit from it, read the book of the same name written by Ira Levin. The movie follows the book pretty closely.
- If you’re curious about what happens when the little baby Antichrist starts to grow up, watch The Omen (1976).
- If you want some telekinetic/gross demonic action watch The Exorcist (1973) or read the William Peter Blatty book of the same name.
- For some found footage demonic thrills, watch The Last Exorcism (2010).
There’s more, but those are the ones I remember better.
By Danforth