Everything you need to know about the District 9 director’s first film in six years.
Since he first burst onto the scene with Oscar-nominated sci-fi District 9 in 2009, South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp has had rather an odd career.
In the twelve years since District 9 was released, he has only directed a further two films – the Matt Damon starring action flick Elysium and the sci-fi actioner Chappie – but now he’s back with his first film since 2015, Demonic.
As the name suggests, the new movie is a horror film centred on the topic of demonic possession, and in keeping with Blompkamp’s back catalogue there are also some interesting visual effects involved. Read on for everything you need to know, including how to watch it and who’s in the cast.
Demonic release date
After opening this year’s FrightFest on Thursday 26th August, Demonic will be released in UK cinemas and on Premium VOD services on Friday 27th August 2021.
In the US, it was released a week earlier, on Friday 20th August.
Demonic cast
Unlike Blomkamp’s previous two films, you won’t find too many familiar faces in the cast for this movie. The lead role of Carly is played by Carly Pope, who has previously had recurring roles on a number of popular series including The Collector, Suits and Arrow, while her friends Martin and Sam are played by Felicity and The L Word star Chris William Martin and Battlestar Galactica’s Kandyse McClure respectively.
Meanwhile, Riverdale’s Nathalie Boltt takes on the role of Carly’s mother, while Michael Rogers (Beyond the Black Rainbow) and Terry Chen (The Expanse) star as two employees of a medical tech firm.
Demonic plot
The film revolves around Carly, a woman who lives alone and had cut off all contact with her mother years earlier after she went on a murder spree. A friend from Carly’s past, Martin, suddenly gets back in touch urging her to go and visit her now comatose mother with the help of a medical tech firm called Therapol – that claims to be able to let Carly speak to her mother using a 3D virtual simulation. Carly takes part in the experiment and, naturally, things don’t go very well…
The official synopsis reads as follows: “A young woman unleashes terrifying demons when supernatural forces at the root of a decades-old rift between mother and daughter are ruthlessly revealed.”