Belief can be defined as placing your trust and faith in otherworldly beings. Whether you believe in a god/divine power or you come to the conclusion you’re an atheist, we all have some awareness of bad karma. Devil tends to portray ideologies of religion from beginning to end, having the film be centered around 7 distinct individuals who are about to undergo what Catholics tend to call, “Judgement Day”. One-by-one, this group of strangers soon starts to reveal what lies beneath the masks they wear on a day-to-day basis. 

Devil, released on September 17th, 2010, is a horror movie that was directed by John Erick Dowdle, but it was a story written and produced by the one and only, M. Night Shyamalan who wrote the famous movie, “The Sixth Sense”. In the beginning credits of an overview shot of the city of Philadelphia, we are introduced to a bible verse, “Peter 5:8, Be alert and of sober mind.”, then we are led with the narrative of a man telling us stories from his childhood, and how he stated his mom mentioned a “Devil” roaming the earth, which sets in the religious aspect from the film here on out. Then we are soon met with 2 sets of characters, Detective Bowden (Chris Messina) and Markowitz (Josh Peace) who were originally assigned to investigate an unfortunate case of suicide, but soon began to uncover more than what they were supposed to. 

The horror/mystery aspect of this film was captivating in my honest opinion, incorporating twisted themes of religion throughout the movie. Though I am neither Christian nor catholic, I am one of many who believes in things such as good and bad karma as this is the movie that seems to cater to those who aren’t religious to almost persuade them to believe in such divine powers. I enjoyed the twisted and dark take on religion, it almost gives off the impression that if we don’t believe in god, and if we have sinned in our lives, we too will meet our day of reckoning and face the consequences that are yet to come. 

Despite the film being rated PG-13, it’s so dark in many ways, but I do recommend this movie to those who enjoy M. Night Shyamalans movies. I wouldn’t say it’s an immediate must-watch film, but I would recommend it to horror movie watchers if they want to try out something a little different than the usual out-of-the-top jumpscares. Or if they’re first-time horror movie fans and want to ease themselves into the genre, then this is the movie I would recommend. But then again, I'm not the one to give you my full judgment on this film.