I was gonna just write "Hereditary spoilers" in the title, but if I mention demonic possession in the title and then say Hereditatary spoilers, well, that kinda says it all. But I'm gonna go into more details in the next section, so I'll spoiler that.
Anyway, I just saw the movie and it was a good movie, but this always kinda bugged me as...well, not a plothole, but a weakness of the premise of demonic possession as a storytelling device.
This is also a problem I've seen in other movies. Like the exorcist, Pazuzu just goes for one random kid. Pazuzu got exorcised, but what would have happened if he had won? Same thing as Paimon, he would have just been in the body of some random kid. He could cause some trouble on earth due to his demonic powers, but other than the sheer evil glee of causing bad shit to happen, he doesn't seem to have a plan. And I've seen this happen in other movies too.
Now, on the other hand, why don't demons possess more high value targets, like celebrities or presidents (I know, I know...trump). We never get movies about demons going after significant people in history, just some middle class sorry ass family in the middle of bumblefuck nowhere. I'd like to see a movie of demonic possession done to someone that a demon could do some real worldly damage to. That'd be truly scary.
Anyway, I just saw the movie and it was a good movie, but this always kinda bugged me as...well, not a plothole, but a weakness of the premise of demonic possession as a storytelling device.
Okay, so by the end of the movie, King Paimon has just had his followers enact some really extravagant and complicated rituals to ensure he got himself a young, male heir, because all he's had before was the female ones, which he didn't want. The thing is that there is a duality of both powerfulness and powerlessness to this.
On one hand, the guy seems omnipotent as a spirit. His followers can somehow engineer a series of coincidental events resulting in the decapitation of Charlie, which is the catalyst that sets everything in the plot in motion, as Paimon was trapped in her body at the time (if you don't know, the telephone pole was marked with his symbol, implied the accident was predetermined). And of course, he seems all knowing, omnipresent, and can do anything from setting you on fire at will to invading your mind at will. His only limit seems to be that it takes a while to scrape the entirety of other peoples souls out before moving in. But other than that, he's got levitation, super strength, etc. He's already got it all.
But his goal is to get a young, male body. Okay, so he does that. What now? Congratz, you've got possession of a teenager. Now what? Seriously, they never actually explain what the ends of a possession are supposed to be. The only thing we kinda know is that his followers want him to reward them with shit for their loyalty, but he could have done that as a spirit. What does HE get out of this? Why is him living in the real world a step up when he's literally a king of hell? Maybe hell is torturous, but again, as a spirit, he seems to be chilling out on earth just fine. And in the end, it's like, I always try to think what the point of all this was from the demons perspective, other than just plain evilness.
On one hand, the guy seems omnipotent as a spirit. His followers can somehow engineer a series of coincidental events resulting in the decapitation of Charlie, which is the catalyst that sets everything in the plot in motion, as Paimon was trapped in her body at the time (if you don't know, the telephone pole was marked with his symbol, implied the accident was predetermined). And of course, he seems all knowing, omnipresent, and can do anything from setting you on fire at will to invading your mind at will. His only limit seems to be that it takes a while to scrape the entirety of other peoples souls out before moving in. But other than that, he's got levitation, super strength, etc. He's already got it all.
But his goal is to get a young, male body. Okay, so he does that. What now? Congratz, you've got possession of a teenager. Now what? Seriously, they never actually explain what the ends of a possession are supposed to be. The only thing we kinda know is that his followers want him to reward them with shit for their loyalty, but he could have done that as a spirit. What does HE get out of this? Why is him living in the real world a step up when he's literally a king of hell? Maybe hell is torturous, but again, as a spirit, he seems to be chilling out on earth just fine. And in the end, it's like, I always try to think what the point of all this was from the demons perspective, other than just plain evilness.
This is also a problem I've seen in other movies. Like the exorcist, Pazuzu just goes for one random kid. Pazuzu got exorcised, but what would have happened if he had won? Same thing as Paimon, he would have just been in the body of some random kid. He could cause some trouble on earth due to his demonic powers, but other than the sheer evil glee of causing bad shit to happen, he doesn't seem to have a plan. And I've seen this happen in other movies too.
Now, on the other hand, why don't demons possess more high value targets, like celebrities or presidents (I know, I know...trump). We never get movies about demons going after significant people in history, just some middle class sorry ass family in the middle of bumblefuck nowhere. I'd like to see a movie of demonic possession done to someone that a demon could do some real worldly damage to. That'd be truly scary.
