Lee Daniels created his version of a possession thriller/horror film with The Deliverance on Netflix, starring Andra Day, Glenn Close, Caleb McLaughlin and Mo’Nique. Inspired a real story, the exorcism movie leads its characters to finding a higher power in dark times.
Day plays Ebony, a mother in Pittsburgh trying to stay sober while she looks after her three kids and her mother Alberta (Close), who is going through cancer treatment. When Ebony decides to move her family to a new home, strange things start happening that could lead to Child Protective Services possibly taking Ebony’s children away from her.
For McLaughlin, who plays one of Ebony’s sons, Nate, the actor had an existing relationship with Daniels after working on Ricky Staub’s Concrete Cowboy, produced by Daniels. McLaughlin told Yahoo Canada that he really trusts the filmmaker’s “artistry” and passion for the projects he works on.
“I sat and read [the script] in like one sitting and I just love the writing, and finding out who was attached to the project, I was just totally down to be a part of something great, greater than myself,” McLaughlin said about what particularly attracted him to The Deliverance. “You read it and it’s a classic horror, but when you see it it’s deeper than that.”
“It’s about something a lot of people can relate to on a deeper level. People kind of go through life battling with demons and finding faith and finding their higher power, … so I think this will resonate with a lot of people.”
In addition to the passion Daniels has in his work, McLaughlin highlighted that Daniels also has a “real connection” with the people he works with.
“He believes in family,” the actor said.
In this case, that meant Daniels invited the cast to is home and McLaughlin brought his father as well, who ended up in the kitchen cooking.
“He trusted and believed in my dad and said, ‘Yeah, cook us some food.’ And my dad cooked … mac and cheese, shrimp, steak, this and that, and he ate my dad’s food and sat down, and I was able to invite my friends and he has his family on set,” McLaughlin said. “You don’t get that with a lot of people”