The official trailer for a horror comedy that will have you questioning how far you would go for your closest buddy was just published on Prime Video. The trailer for “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” stars Amiah Miller and Elsie Fisher as two best friends in high school whose bond is tested by otherworldly forces. Grady Hendrix’s novel of the same name served as the inspiration for the film My Best Friend’s Exorcism. After the publication of Hendrix’s first novel, Horrorstör, in 2014, the story has since been optioned for film.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, his most recent novel, is also being adapted for the small screen, this time into an Amazon Original Series. My Best Friend’s Exorcism, directed by Damon Thomas (Killing Eve), is mostly set in 1988, at the time of the so-called “Satanic Panic” in the United States. According to the official plot summary:
Having a devil inside your body doesn’t make the adolescent years any easier. Abby (Elsie Fisher) and Gretchen (Amiah Miller) are two best friends living in 1988 who are trying to figure out males, pop culture, and the paranormal while wearing neon legwarmers.
Abby, with the help of Christian Lemon (Christopher Lowell), an overconfident mall exorcist, is determined to send the demon back to hell, assuming it doesn’t murder Gretchen first. My Best Friend’s Exorcism is an ode to 1980s pop culture that tells a story as timeless as its themes of fear and friendship and has equal parts horror and comedy. The trailer starts out optimistically as if the film will be a standard coming-of-age story about two teenagers who have been best friends since elementary school. Up until around 30 seconds into the video, that’s what it looks like. The tone then quickly becomes darker and more sinister. Gretchen and Abby, two friends, decide to investigate a place where another girl was supposedly sacrificed in a Satanic ceremony.
Abby is nervous, but Gretchen manages to talk her into coming. Every single one of us has seen enough scary movies to realise it was a terrible idea. And, shocker of shockers, Gretchen gets possessed. My Best Friend’s Exorcism plainly tells its story via a comedic lens that tackles various issues, suggesting that it has no intention of following in the footsteps of The Exorcist. The film also stars Cathy Ang, Rachel Ogechi Kanu, and Christopher Lowell and has a running time of 96 minutes. The screenplay was adapted by Jenna Lamia from a novel by Grady Hendrix. The first episode of My Best Friend’s Exorcism will be available on Prime Video on September 30.