An exorcism film with nothing to exorcise but your patience.

Exorcism horror is a subgenre rich with potential—questions of faith, frailty, and fear, all wrapped in layers of the unknown. Unfortunately, Shadow of God, the latest Shudder original, squanders that potential with glacial pacing, overwrought storytelling, and bargain-bin visual effects that break whatever immersion its lofty premise tries to build.

The film follows Father Mason Harper (Mark O’Brien), a Vatican exorcist drawn back to his hometown after a mysterious string of clergy deaths. What should be a chilling homecoming quickly devolves into a murky theological slog, especially when Mason’s long-thought-dead father, Angus (Shaun Johnston), reemerges—changed, and possibly possessed… not by the devil, but something supposedly divine. It’s a neat inversion on paper, but in execution, it’s all empty sermon and no soul.

Director Michael Peterson leans heavily into a tone of self-importance, mistaking laborious dialogue for depth. The film drowns in exposition and symbolism so on-the-nose it feels like you’re being bludgeoned by scripture. What could have been a taut, unsettling exploration of corrupted holiness instead becomes an exercise in patience.

Worse still are the effects. When Shadow of God tries to finally erupt into spectacle—visions, possessions, biblical cataclysm—it falters hard. Cheap CGI and awkward choreography undercut whatever tension might’ve remained, ejecting the viewer from the already tenuous atmosphere. It doesn’t help that the performances, while earnest, are often lost in the noise of a bloated script and uncertain direction.

Mark O’Brien does what he can with a lead role that demands more whispery brooding than range, while Shaun Johnston’s Angus never fully sells the “divine possession” angle. Jacqueline Byers, so compelling in Prey for the Devil, is underused here. And while the supporting cast (Josh Cruddas, Adrian Hough, David Haysom) put in respectable work, they’re ultimately swallowed by the film’s somber, meandering tone.

The Prognosis:

Shadow of God wants to wrestle with grand themes—faith, legacy, divine intervention—but the execution is so leaden and clunky that it all feels like a sermon no one asked to hear. Instead of soul-searching, we get soul-sapping.

• Saul Muerte