Lee Daniels is back in the director’s chair, telling a story unlike anything he’s ever done before.
His latest film, The Deliverance, is a supernatural thriller with an all-star cast that turns the typical haunting tale on its ear. It’s a story told with a mix of faith, horror, and trauma – a departure for the director, best known for crafting dramas.
The Deliverance finds Ebony Jackson (Andra Day) fighting demons, both figurative and literal, as she grapples with echoes of pain from her own childhood while trying to coexist with her mother (Glenn Close) and raise three children of her own (Caleb McLaughlin, Demi Singleton, and Anthony B. Jenkins).
Loosely based on the true 2012 case of LaToya Ammons and her family, the story is something Daniels had been eyeing since shortly after the success of 2009’s Precious. Though he was eager to challenge himself to make a “throwback to old school horror” in the vein of The Exorcist or Rosemary’s Baby, the director had jitters about taking it on at the time.
“15 years ago, I didn’t want to do this film,” Daniels tells ESSENCE exclusively. “I just was nervous about it all.”
“Then I realized, as time progressed, that I wasn’t really telling a horror story,” he says. Daniels instead realized that he could use this true story of darkness to lead audiences to the light. “I think that we’re in a dark time and we need to find our higher power, albeit Buddha, Jesus, Allah, somebody.”
“Everything I’ve done, either as a producer or director, has been something that I feel is timely to the moment we’re in. It’s not looking at it as a horror movie, but rather a movie about trying to find your higher power and about me trying to find my higher power too. Through this process, can I get closer to Jesus for me?”
While creating that avenue for increased closeness with the Lord, Daniels also found himself reconciling and collaborating once again with an old friend.
Mo’Nique won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Precious, her last project with Daniels. Famously, the two had a longstanding disagreement that played out in the press for over a decade. But after a miraculous reconciliation in 2022, the duo instantly hopped back onto set together to make more movie magic.
“Unreal, unbelievable, magical feeling, a joy, all of it. It was perfect,” Daniels said of reconnecting with the actress and comedienne. “Listen, we picked right up. It was like the 15 years of our argument hadn’t even happened. We just stepped right back into the groove of her jumping into character, and she is a tour de force. The two of us together are crazy. We make magic.”
Daniels’ full cast was magical, with three other Academy Award-nominated actresses, including 8-time nominee Glenn Close, and 2022 Best Supporting Actress nominee Aunjanue Ellis. At the center of The Deliverance is Andra Day, who earned her nomination during her last project with Daniels, The United States Vs. Billie Holiday.
Day gives a transformative performance as Ebony Jackson, a mother of three fighting her way out of alcoholism, trauma poverty, yet still just on the edge the most important battle of her life.
“I love working with women, in particular Black women. I love it. We become one,” Daniels said of casting Day as his lead once again. “So I just want to work with her over and over again. She’s like a muse to me, and she just trusts me.”
“I absolutely love working with Lee,” Day tells ESSENCE of collaborating with the director. “He is my person and my partner when it comes to this craft. Every time I do something with him, I’m always made better. I’m always challenged. Everything is a passion project and a labor of love.”
“As a director, you can’t get performances out of people if there’s no trust. Andra and Monique and Aunjanue and Glenn…that’s rare. For a director to find an artist to do whatever it is, don’t question it, just do it, just blindly jump with you into the abyss is my dream. When we’re in lockstep and you trust, it’s a powerful thing and it shows on screen.”
The Deliverance hits select theaters on Aug. 16 and streams on Netflix on Aug. 30.
