‘Nefarious’ filmmakers say God is using their film on demonic possession to reveal ‘darkness' in our society
"Nefarious" co-directors Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman believe God is using their film about demonic possession to present the "truth" about what's behind the rising darkness behind politics and society.
"Nefarious" co-directors Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman believe God is using their film about demonic possession to present the "truth" about what’s behind the rising darkness in politics and society
The two filmmakers, who also made the pro-life film, "Unplanned," discussed with Fox News Digital how their new film "Nefarious" shines a light on a demonic plan to corrupt humanity all the while making them believe they are becoming further enlightened and liberated.
The filmmakers, who are both Roman Catholic, believe that Satan's plan they portrayed in the film is fully active in the real world, telling Fox "Nefarious" depicts the current "spiritual war" that is making America a different, darker place than it once was.
"There’s a spiritual darkness overtaking western civilization," they claimed.
The directors of the new film "Nefarious," Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, discuss their inspiration for bringing the film to American audiences. (Fox News Digital interview)
Inspired by "A Nefarious Plot," a book written by conservative author and pundit for The Blaze Steve Deace, the plot centers around a psychiatrist, played by Jordan Belfi, who visits a convicted murderer on death row only hours before his execution.
The doctor’s task is to observe whether the convict – played by actor Sean Patrick Flannery – is clinically insane or of sound mind and declare whether he deserves the electric chair. Walking into the interview, the psychiatrist has no idea that the prisoner he will be talking to is possessed by a demon.
The movie’s plot follows the conversation between the two, which involves the initially self-assured atheist doctor being reduced to a terrified shell of a man by the evil spiritual entity.
The demon, named Nefarious, gleefully lets him in on his plan to slowly influence humanity on a path to despair, darkness, and ultimately eternal damnation.
The demon details Satan’s plan to wound God, or as the demon refers to Him, "The Enemy." The plan, which was concocted just after the devil's fall from heaven in the Book of Genesis and at work in the present day, aims to hurt "the Enemy" by destroying his own beloved human creation.
He tells the increasingly unnerved doctor, that Satan and the fallen angels have been working throughout human history to undermine men by convincing them of their own greatness and seducing them with the promise of earthly freedom and pleasure.
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Paintings adorn the interior of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in New York, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
When asked about what their inspiration was for making this film for audiences today, Solomon pointed to God’s timing in using it to reveal the evil in the world.
He said, "He does things for His exact purpose at the exact moment. And I believe right now, anybody that will read this, or see ["Nefarious"] – you have to admit when you go out the front door of your house that something feels wrong. There’s a darkness. Things are off. It’s not like the America we all knew. There’s something really, really wrong."
Solomon added, "And we believe that’s the darkness, it’s evil. Evil is running rampant."
Konzelman claimed that film’s message helps clarify the reality of what’s behind what many Americans see as merely an intense culture war.
Arguing that there is something darker underlying the current political fights in America, he said "Part of the message of the film is that what we perceive as a culture war that we’re dedicated to fighting on a lot of levels, is really a spiritual war. There’s a spiritual darkness overtaking western civilization."
Solomon jumped back in, adding, "That’s why we knew this was the time."
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The Baphomet statue is seen in the conversion room at the Satanic Temple where a "Hell House" is being held in Salem, Massachusetts, on Oct. 8, 2019. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
At one disturbing point in the film, the demon reveals his real-time awareness that the doctor’s girlfriend is having an abortion. As the scene develops, Nefarious gloats over the fact that the doctor has deluded himself into thinking that his girlfriend killing his son in the womb is her right. He makes the argument it’s her body, her choice, much to the demon's wicked pleasure.
The demon indicates that the doctor’s rationalization of the killing was all part of the satanic plan for humanity.
The scene gave a concise view how the filmmakers believe demons in the real world have tempted man into rationalizing child-killing, and other self-destructive acts, all the while deluding themselves into they’ve achieved political liberation.
Solomon told Fox, "It was a mirror of society, what we’re going through now. We believe that the devil is very, very active. I believe that his time is short and that he’s frantic. And so evil is pushing like it’s never been pushed."
"Part of what the film does, it kinda pulls the veil away," Konzelman claimed, noting how it shows what’s at work behind our destructive cultural movements. He added, "[The devil’s] been here the whole time, and ironically all we’ve done is remove our traditional defenses to his machinations."
Solomon expressed that his disagrees with people who claim that the film is an "assault on wokeness" or trying to take shots at the political left. He said, "What we did do is, we wanted truth. And to us, obviously as devout Catholics and conservatives, what’s happening on the left is – I just think it’s evil."
The filmmaker claimed that they "brought those issues up" in the movie "so that we could put a light on it."
Solomon asked, "What would the devil do? He would do all these things. Euthanasia, abortion, all these things. And so it was part of the telling of the story, but we stand by it. We stand by every single word we did there."
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Summing it up, Konzelman declared, "It’s really about the triumph of relativism in our society. That’s really what it boils down to." He explained that Satan’s plan has been to convince man to give up on God’s plan and the "Mosaic code in its entirety" and live how he wants. Though man thinks that’s liberating, it is the source of his destruction.
The co-director concluded, "The failure of people – of individuals and society in general to recognize that is really what the movie’s about."
"Nefarious" is currently in theaters nationwide.
This Dec. 1, 2012 file photo shows a silhouette of a crucifix and a stained glass window inside a Catholic Church in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
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