Lee Daniels Aimed to Scare Both Himself and the Audience in ‘The Deliverance’

Lee Daniels’ first venture into horror filmmaking, “The Deliverance,” has just premiered on Netflix. The director has been contemplating this genre since his 2009 film “Precious.” It was around that time he first heard of the real-life story of a family haunted by evil spirits, which serves as the inspiration for “The Deliverance.” “I was very intrigued by this story,” Daniels shared on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “I’m obsessed with ‘The Exorcist,’ ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ and ‘The Omen.’”

Daniels’ fascination with horror has resulted in one of his most daring films yet. For a filmmaker known for works like “The Paperboy,” “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” and the TV series “Empire,” this is quite notable. What sets “The Deliverance” apart is how Daniels manages to encapsulate the essence of the horror classics he loves while introducing fresh perspectives within a new context.

Part of the allure in making “The Deliverance” was applying the lessons from films like “The Exorcist” and “Rosemary’s Baby” to a story rooted in the Black community. “I didn’t know that we had seen that kind of groundedness in a world that’s Black on screen,” Daniels reflected. However, something initially held him back from pursuing the project.

“I pulled out at the last minute because my mom freaked out,” Daniels confessed. “We believe in these spirits, both good and bad, and she felt that they would jump on me. It sounds corny, but she really had me convinced.” Daniels’ strong religious beliefs, coupled with a reluctance to revisit themes of abuse so soon after “Precious,” initially kept him away from the project. Yet, those same beliefs eventually helped him revive it.

“Something about Trump made me do it,” Daniels revealed. “I felt something dark, and that the world as we know it may not be around for long. LaToya [the woman whose true story inspired ‘The Deliverance’] found her light — it’s not about jump scares, it really is about a spiritual awakening. Once I understood how to tell the story, I felt that was the way to go.”

Creating a bit of distance between himself and the true story — and any actual evil spirits — felt like the right approach for Daniels. This inclination birthed the character of Alberta, the fictional white mother of Ebony, played by Andra Day. “Where I grew up, there are white women in every neighborhood who only date Black men,” Daniels explained. “I wanted to bring that person to life because Black people know her, and they’ve just never seen her on screen before.”

Glenn Close delivers a spectacularly bold, vanity-free performance as Alberta. “Glenn did not know what she was walking into,” Daniels said. “She just wanted to work with me. I told her to put on a little bit of weight, then had the costumer nip-tuck the costumes. She asked, ‘What is this? What am I doing?’ It took her a second to really learn Alberta and to drop into her.”

Close’s initial apprehension about Daniels’ approach — requiring her to gain weight, wear flashy nails and makeup, and rely on an assortment of wigs — eventually gave way to liberation. “In Hollywood, a body has to look a certain way,” Daniels said. “But in the African American community, you own it, whatever it is. Once she tapped into that and understood she was sexy no matter how she looked, her attitude was gold. She got it, and it was magic.”

Daniels, much like his actors, had to confront his fears regarding the subject matter and the challenges of horror filmmaking. “The tone was challenging to me, which is why I wanted to do it,” Daniels explained. “I knew it would stretch a muscle that I hadn’t used, make me afraid, and I’m not good unless I’m afraid.”

Despite successfully navigating the genre, Daniels has no plans to return to horror. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “I’ll never do it again. Check that box. Next, off to do a superhero movie.”

Source: IndieWire, Netflix