Why is everyone talking about The Deliverance?

The Deliverance has quickly risen the ranks and nabbed the number 1 spot on Netflix, just days after its release on the streaming platform.

Lee Daniels' horror movie follows a family who move into a new home hoping for a fresh start, only for demonic events to begin to take place inside that make them believe it is a portal to hell. Starring Glenn Close, Andra Day, Caleb McLaughlin, and Mo'Nique, The Deliverance has quickly become a viral sensation.

The film's success online has allowed the fright fest to defy the critics, who labelled it "a mess", amongst other things. Regardless of how it was critically received, the film has certainly resonated with a lot of viewers and certain controversies have made it the movie on everyone's lips.

Why is everyone talking about The Deliverance?

The Deliverance quickly went viral because of a scene from the film that was shared online, it features Close's character Alberta when she has been possessed by a demonic entity and tells her daughter that she can "smell her nappy p***y".

Apparently more amused than frightened by the scene, the social media user who shared the short clip could be heard laughing to themselves over Close's stand-out line. It has already racked up 9 million views on X, and the user joked: "Lee Daniels you will pay for your Crimes for having Glenn Close say this".

Daniels has embraced audience reaction to the film, especially this controversial line, and joked that he "had to do it". The filmmaker also revealed that he had to push to keep the scene in the movie after he was asked to remove it.

Replying to a user who called him a "fearless" filmmaker, Daniels wrote: "I know what my audience wants. Certain people wanted me to take this part out of the film, but I knew it had to stay."

The viral scene aside, there is a lot that has resonated with viewers about The Deliverance when it comes to faith, family, and race. One thing that viewers enjoyed was seeing Close portray a character like Alberta, a matriarchal figure who still embraces her beauty and who doesn't shy away from raising a mixed-race family that are still connected to their roots.

One user shared a scene of Close doing a sew-in for her onscreen daughter, and told Daniels: "I never thought in all my days that I would see THEE Glenn Close doing a sew in with French manicure tips, chewing gum like a cow, with a cajun accent and doing the "girl straighten yo head up" move"

While another similarly joked: "Sir, you had THE Glenn Close in a 26 piece wig, doing a sew-in on the porch in the hood, the secret service needs to get involved at this point."

This kind of representation is rare in cinema, and was something that users excitedly embraced alongside the spooks and scares of the story.

The Deliverance is based on the true story of LaToya Ammons, who alongside her three children and her mother Rose Campbell witnessed strange things when they moved into a house in Indiana. Ammons tried to exorcise the house of demons after witnessing her children levitating from their beds and speaking in voices that were not their own.

Read more: The real-life killer inspiration behind The Black Phone

Certain aspects of their story have been changed for the Netflix film, including creating Glenn Close's character as a way to explore the experience of mixed-race families.

Daniels spoke about how he wanted to make these changes in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, saying: "What I’ve changed a little bit is I made her mother white because I have so many mixed-race friends and [I wanted to talk about] what it’s like to have a white mother and live in a Black girl’s body.

"And the deliverance person was actually a guy and not a girl. But there are so many women that do this work too, that don’t get recognised, so I changed that a little bit, and of course their names and such. I really wanted to separate as much as I could so I could make it my own story."

The Deliverance is out on Netflix now.