There isn’t a shortage of Horror films that claim to showcase demonic possession and are filled with gory scenes or jump scares of all kinds. Chuck Konzelman’s Nefarious, however, stands apart from others due to its unique take on the state of consciousness that man falls into once inhabited by a malevolent force.
Nefarious revolves around Dr. James Martin, a psychiatrist who’s hired to review the mental condition of an inmate who has been put on death row and will be executed soon. Martin’s job is to evaluate the killer, Edward Wayne Brady, and find out if he’s mentally fit or has some kind of mental condition that could protect him from the execution.
Co-directed by Cary Soloman, Nefarious ended up getting a Golden Trailer nomination soon after its release. What makes the movie scarier is that there were reportedly multiple car crashes, electrical failures, and other terrible incidents happening on the set while the movie was being filmed.
What Happens In The End?
Dr. James Martin is called to the state penitentiary to evaluate a death row inmate for his psychological condition. Edward Wayne Brady had killed many people but claimed that he was innocent and that all of it was the work of the demon who was possessing him.
His previous psychiatrist, Dr. Alan Fischer, had ended his life, so Martin arrived as his replacement. When Martin starts talking to Edward, he notices that he’s not sane and often keeps changing between two personalities. Despite Edward clearly showing that he was possessed by a demon, Martin starts to assume he could be suffering from dissociative identity disorder.
For quite a long time, the demon, who’s called Nefarious, tries to convince Martin that he is indeed a demon and wants him to write a demonic gospel that would lead people to sin more. Martin doesn’t believe him, but when Nefarious correctly guesses things about his personal life, he starts questioning his beliefs.
Dr. Martin is later called to see a book that was found in Edward’s jail cell, which has a collage of his childhood photos. This leads him to think that Edward’s next target is probably him. When Martin comes back to question Nefarious, the demon frees himself and tries to strangulate Martin.
Wanting to have nothing to do with this case anymore, Martin confirms that Edward is sane and should be electrocuted as he wishes. This leads him to commit his third murder, the first being his mom and the second his unborn son.
Ending Explained
After being prepared for the electric chair, Edward tries to convince Martin to save him, but all of his cries are in vain. As Martin watches him, the demon comes forward and asks him if he would like to accept the offer that was given to him by Satan.
This offer gave Martin everything he wanted in this world in exchange for becoming Satan’s slave and getting the Dark Gospel published.
Martin doesn’t accept it and sees Edward being horrifically electrocuted to his death. He then feels the entity within him, letting Martin know that he should have accepted the offer. Martin is in disbelief over what’s happening, but things get worse when the demon causes Martin to put a gun to his head.
Martin calls out to God to save him, and the gun ends up misfiring. A year later, we see that Martin is on a talk show and is being interviewed about his life before he wrote the book The Nefarious Plot.
Instead of publishing the words of the Nefarious, Martin changed the sentences into warnings and wanted people to read them and stay away from sin. As Martin leaves the venue, he sees a homeless woman rummaging through the garbage. He tries to give her charity, but the woman turns around and says his name in the same voice as Nefarious.
Nefarious is the kind of movie that doesn’t shove horror into our faces but instead is slow and impactful. Martin, an atheist, comes across a murderer who committed all of the killings under demonic possession. While Edward is innocent, there’s nothing he can do to get out of this messy situation. The demon completely ruins his life before taking his soul to hell.
Although Martin is strongly logical at first, the encounter with the demon ends up changing the way he thinks about life. By the end, Martin isn’t a complete believer but knows that there’s evil in this world that only wants the downfall of humanity out of spite. The film does have strong religious tones but conveys them in an intriguing manner.
The demon comes back into Martin’s life in the end, but this time, as a homeless woman. This shows that Satan and his demons will always come back to lead mankind astray, and this battle is going to last until the end times.
Besides its absorbing storyline, there’s much more that Nefarious should be appreciated for, including its cinematography and the way the actors portray such demanding roles so flawlessly.
Nefarious is now available to watch on Prime Video in limited locations.
