The Deliverance (2024)

Last updated on September 4th, 2024 at 05:21 am

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Ebony Jackson, a struggling single mother fighting her personal demons, moves her family into a new home for a fresh start. But when strange occurrences inside the home raise the suspicions of Child Protective Services and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself locked in a battle for her life and the souls of her children.

Filmed in Gary, Indiana and Pittsburgh, PA.

Previously known as Demon House.

Tasha Smith (Empire) plays Asia, who is Ebony’s best friend.

Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday) plays Ebony, who is the mother of the family.

This project was part of a package deal that became part of a bidding war between several studios that Netflix eventually won with an estimated $65-million.

The family reportedly experienced the following: “The experience began with unusual occurrences in her home over two years ago, including swarms of flies around her porch in the winter and unexplainable creaking sounds in her basement. The events progressed to possessive incidents including her oldest daughter unconsciously levitating above her bed, medical staff witnessing her middle son gliding backward on the floor, wall and ceiling. According to Relativity, the DCS case manager witnessed her youngest son growling with his teeth showing and eyes rolled back, locking his hands around his older brother’s throat with no recollection of the incident. Initial psychological exams and exorcism attempts failed to provide explanation or solution for the bizarre events.”

A documentary film about the haunted house owned by the Ammons was released in 2018 by paranormal investigator Zak Bagans. Bagans purchased and ultimately demolished the home after completing the documentary.

This project has been in development since 2014 when Latoya Ammons optioned her rights to Relativity, but the movie never got made and the rights lapsed as the studio plunged into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Tooley Entertainment acquired the lapsed rights and then came a long development process. Dave Coggeshall wrote drafts, as did Elijah Bynum, until Lee Daniels rewrote it himself, and that is the current script, which reportedly uses the case to frame a fictional thriller, as was done with The Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, The Conjuring and other franchises purported based on or inspired by actual events.

Director Lee Daniels also helmed the critically acclaimed dramas Precious and The Butler.

The film is based on Latoya Ammons and her family, who claims to have been victims of a demonic possession that has spanned over years. Ammons and her family have received international media attention for their accounts, which have been witnessed and documented by the Department of Child Services, the Gary (IN) Police Department and hospital staff. You can read about the Ammons haunting case here.

The Deliverance arrived in Select Theaters on August 16, 2024.

The Deliverance premiered on Netflix on August 30, 2024.

IMDb

Director: Lee Daniels