What actually happens
A honeymoon with a very short itinerary
Victor Fielding, a photographer, takes his pregnant wife Sorenne to Haiti for their honeymoon, and a huge earthquake strikes while they are there. Sorenne is badly hurt, and the paramedics tell Victor he has to pick between saving her and saving their unborn child. Thirteen years later he has lost his faith and is raising their daughter, Angela, on his own in Georgia. One afternoon after school, Angela and her Baptist friend Katherine West go into the woods to hold a séance and try to contact Angela's mother. The girls vanish, and a three-day search follows.
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Burned feet, bad neighbors, one large book
The girls turn up in a barn on the third day, traumatized, with burns on their feet, but otherwise they seem almost normal. That does not last, and Victor takes Angela to the hospital, where their neighbor Ann is a nurse. Ann becomes convinced Angela is possessed when Angela reveals things only Ann knows about her time as a would-be nun and a secret abortion. Ann gives Victor a memoir by Chris MacNeil, who went through something similar with her daughter Regan fifty years ago and has spent her life studying exorcism around the world. Regan has been estranged from her since the book became a hit. Chris visits Angela, then goes to Katherine's home to perform a deliverance ritual, and Katherine jabs a cross into Chris's eyes, which blinds her.
A congregation of every denomination available
Victor, Ann and Katherine's parents, Tony and Miranda, ask the Church for an exorcism. Chris tells Victor to draw on methods from many cultures, so the group recruits Father Maddox, a local priest, Don Revans, the Baptist pastor of Katherine's family, Stuart, who is a Pentecostal preacher, and Dr. Beehibe, who practices rootwork healing. They plan one combined exorcism. The local Catholic diocese then forbids Maddox from taking part, since it believes the girls have a psychiatric disorder.
The exorcism has too many people in the room
The scene people dread most is the exorcism near the end. Once it starts, the demon tells Victor that he never chose Angela thirteen years ago: he chose Sorenne, and she died anyway. It says the group must choose which girl lives and which dies, or it will kill both. Miranda and Victor each refuse to give up the other's child. Maddox has had a change of heart and rejoins, reads from the Roman Ritual, and the demon snaps his neck with its mind. Victor prays the Lord's Prayer, which he knew as a child, and apologizes to Angela while using Sorenne's scarf to try to strengthen her against the demon. Then Tony shouts that he picks Katherine, and Angela flatlines. Only then does the demon explain that the girl who was chosen is the one who dies. It pulls Katherine down to Hell while she screams for her parents, and Angela revives.
The ending, explained
Angela revives and is reunited with Victor, and Katherine is gone, dragged to Hell while screaming for her parents. Afterward, Angela goes back to school, Miranda and Tony grieve, and Victor visits Sorenne's grave. Chris, in the hospital, is reunited with her daughter Regan, who forgives her. Tony had chosen to save Katherine, and the demon had said the chosen girl is the one who dies.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Exorcist: Believer scary?
Yes. The Exorcist: Believer is a 5 out of 10, and the dread lasts about a night. It is a sad possession story, and its scariest scenes are in the final exorcism.
How does The Exorcist: Believer end?
Katherine is dragged to Hell and Angela revives and is reunited with her father Victor. Father Maddox is killed during the exorcism, and Chris MacNeil is reunited with Regan.
Does the dog die in The Exorcist: Believer?
No dog dies in The Exorcist: Believer. Two dogs fight on a beach at the start, neither is injured, and no dog is seen after that.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Exorcist: Believer?
No. The Exorcist: Believer has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Who is Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist: Believer?
Chris MacNeil is the mother of Regan, who went through a possession fifty years earlier. In The Exorcist: Believer she is an author who has spent her life researching exorcisms in other cultures.
