from Netflix horror movie possession The Liberation is loosely based in the 2011 account of the haunting of Latoya Ammons and her family, also known as House of the Devil. Director Lee Daniels (Precious, The Butler) took no chances when it came to addressing the horror associated with Ammons’ account and enlisted an apostle to anoint the ensemble with prayer.
The Liberationnow available in select theaters before arriving on Netflix August 30thstars Andra Day, Glenn Close, Mo’Nique, Aunjanue Ellis, Caleb McLaughlin and Tasha Smith: The story of a woman who loves nature.
Day plays Ebony Jackson, “a struggling single mother who struggles with her guys demons, moves her family to a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the house raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself caught in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.”
The project initially came to Daniels soon after Preciousbut the spiritual filmmaker was initially hesitant to tackle a horror story based on real-life people. That changed with the socio-political climate, and Daniels found new inspiration within the story.
“About five years ago, I realized that we were in dark times and really I wanted to find my higher power,” Daniels says of the turning point. It then became a question of, “How can I tell this story without turning it into a typical horror story with jump scares? Because that was kind of boring to me. I really didn’t want to do that.”
Daniels continues: “I wanted to figure out a way to tell the story that you’re involved in these people, these characters, so that when the horror comes, you’re terrified for them.”
The Deliverance. Athony B Jenkins as André in The Deliverance. Cr. Aaron Ricketts/Netflix © 2024.
The Liberationthat Lee Daniels wrote with David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynumspends a lot of time establishing complex characters that stand apart from their real-life inspirations. So much so that Glenn Close’s character, Ebony’s mother Alberta, is an invention of Daniels and Close.
Daniels explains: “So the character of Alberta is something I invented. She wasn’t whiteshe was black in real life, but I wanted to do something different. I wanted to show a character that we don’t really see. I mean, African-Americans know her well, but they’ve never seen her on screen, this white woman who is immersed in this black space with a black daughter and even blacker grandchildren. How does she navigate and What is it like to be biracial? What is it really like? We are in that world before the carpet is snatched of us, and we are in a place of horror. So I made you look here when this is coming your way.”
The director is equally candid in confessing what made Close perfect for Alberta, telling Bloody Disgusting, “I was desperate to work with her, and I think she can do anything.”
Of course, the film belongs to protagonist Andra Day, a desperate mother battling her own demons long before the biblical demons enter the picture. Not only does the actor committed for the role, but Daniels revealed another vital aspect feature he was looking for: faith. This faith led to some amazing improvisation when the horror reached its peak.
“It was important to me to find an actor who was a devout Christian, and I was blessed with her,” Daniels says of Day. “When she is speaking in tongue, this It wasn’t in the script, it wasn’t written at all. It was her stepping out of the book and letting the Lord speak through her. My AD was like, “When she starts speaking in tongues, should we cut it off?” I say, “No, it’s, that’s God working. It’s God’s work.‘ And then we let her do what she wants.”
The Deliverance. Demi Singleton as Shante in The Deliverance. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024
This also speaks to Lee Daniels’ unwavering faith and commitment to warding off any bad omens on set. So much so that the filmmaker had an apostle come to set every day.
“You know about that apostle, huh?“ Daniels smiles.The apostle was on set every day to pray for us because I had read books about Poltergeistwhat was happening on set and in Exorcist and in The omen.There were some shady things going on, and that wasn’t going to happen on my set.
“Before in every scene, we prayed, and the first time we did it, Netflix sent someone from HR and said, you have to stop this prayer thing. I was like, ‘Guess what? I can’t do this without prayer.‘ I told my team that if you don’t want to prayyou can go away. But for the most part, everyone stayed. They all felt the same way I did. They just wanted to protect themselves.”
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