Rishabh Shandilya
Directed by Scott Derrickson, ‘Deliver Us from Evil’ is a supernatural horror of 2014 featuring Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, Olivia Munn, Chris Coy, Sean Harris, Joel McHale, Olivia Horton, and more. The movie chronicles the story of Sergeant Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana), a jaded and skeptical NYPD officer investigating a string of strange and puzzling murders. Now, Sarchie must face the evil powers haunting the city by working with the unusual priest Mendoza (Édgar Ramirez), who excels in exorcisms.
‘Deliver Us from Evil’ deals with conflicting ideas like good and evil, being redeemed, and the battle against evil. The film explores themes of overcoming personal demons and the many faces of evil. If you’re curious to see what challenges Ralph Sarchie faces in his investigation, here’s everything you need to know about the ending of ‘Deliver Us from Evil.’ SPOILERS AHEAD!
Deliver Us from Evil Plot Synopsis
The movie begins with a handful of American Soldiers coming across a strange, narrow cave while pursuing terrorists in Iraq. Upon entering, the soldiers are immediately greeted by a staunch smell. Unfortunately, before they can draw their next breath, the scene fades to black. Furthermore, the screams in the background suggest something sinister has befallen the soldiers. The scene shifts to the present day, and we see Sergeant Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana) and his partner, Butler (Joel McHale), desperately trying to save a baby they found in the bottom of the dumpster. Unfortunately, the baby dies while Sarchie is administering CPR.
Next, Sarchie and Butler respond to a violent dispute call. The duo shows up at the house and, following a long pursuit, manages to apprehend Jimmy Tratner (Chris Coy), an ex-marine accused of beating his wife. Sarchie then responds to another call, and the cops on the scene reveal that a couple of hours ago, a woman tossed her kid into the lion’s enclosure and then disappeared into the crowd. The cops further state that right after the woman tossed her kid, the whole zoo lost power. After scouring through the zoo, Sarchie finds the woman while she is erratically clawing a hole with her hands. Sarchie presses her for answers, but it proves ineffective, as the woman keeps uttering nonsense.
Sarchie encounters a strange man who has been watching the entire thing. He follows the man into the lion’s enclosure and barely escapes with his life. A couple of hours later, at the precinct, Sarchie meets Joe Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez), a Jesuit Priest assigned to attend to Jane Carena (Olivia Horton), the woman who tossed her kid. Sarchie and Butler tend to another domestic call, wherein an Italian couple reveals that their family has been staying in the living room because of the eerie noises stemming from the basement. They further state that their light bulbs keep burning out in just a few hours, and the holy candles they brought from the church also don’t light up in the house.
Butler and Sarchie enter the basement and find a rotten and half-decomposed carcass of David Griggs, one of the painters that the family hired to paint their basement. Griggs’ driving license leads Sarchie and Butler to his apartment, wherein they find thousands of visiting cards of Alphonsus Painting company and a couple of photographs of Griggs with his spouse, Jane Carena, the lady who tossed her baby in the lion’s enclosure. Sarchie also locates a photograph of Griggs with his marine friends, Jimmy Tratner and Mick Santino (Sean Harris), and realizes that Santino must be the other painter.
Every disturbance call Sarchie attended is somehow connected in its own way. At first, Sarchie arrested Jimmy Tratner, who served alongside David Griggs, the man they found dead in the Italian couple’s basement. Furthermore, the woman who tossed her kid in the zoo was David Griggs’ wife. Not to mention, Mike Santino was present at both crime scenes- the zoo and the basement. Further investigation reveals that all three were dishonorably discharged from the military for attacking the battalion Chaplain. All three served time in the brig at Quantico before their release. Also, Grigg’s autopsy report didn’t mention any foul play and cited the cause of death as suicide.
Mendoza pays a visit to Sarchie in the precinct, asking to see the footage from the zoo, but the latter denies it. Mendoza tries to convince Sarchie that Jane Carena is possessed, but Sarchie shrugs it off, claiming he doesn’t believe in ghosts or demonic possession. Sarchie manages to procure CCTV footage from the zoo and learns that Jane Carena tossed her baby after seeing the strange Graffiti painted in the lion’s enclosure. Sarchie also hears strange noises originating from the video, which, for some reason, seem to miss Butler’s ears.
Sarchie heads over to Jimmy’s house and learns from his wife that Jimmy often gets fits, where he claws at things. One night, she found him in the streets, digging through the asphalt with his bare hands. Sarchie also discovers a strange graffiti hidden behind a fresh coating and a couple of hard drives in Jimmy’s office, containing footage from his time in the military. The footage revealed that Jimmy and his team discovered a strange graffiti in the cave marred by bats and skeleton heads, similar to the ones Sarchie found in the zoo and Jimmy’s office.
The dots begin to connect for Sarchie, and he concedes that the bizarre symbols are connected to everything that is happening. Sarchie visits the mental institution with Mendoza to see Jane in hopes of getting some answers, but it is unfruitful. Rather, Jane ends up biting Sarchie’s arm and utters the name “Marvin.”
Deliver Us from Evil Ending Explained: What Happens to Christina & Jen?
Mendoza and Sarchie drive to the bar to talk about the strange symbols Sarchie found in Jimmy’s office. Mendoza decodes them as messages to the spirits of Babylon. The images are Persian pictographs, whereas the words are in Latin, together acting as some kind of doorway between the demonic world and the mortal one. Mendoza continues that some people are more susceptible to such texts compared to others. This is the reason why Sarchie was able to hear the strange noises coming from the CCTV footage while Butler was not. Santino saw these texts in Iraq and became possessed, and now he’s trying to recruit more by painting these texts all over the town. The horrors have even extended itself to Sarchie’s home, as his daughter keeps hearing clawing noises inside her bedroom.
Sarchie and Bulter rush to Santino’s house with Mendoza after finding his address in the felony database. Unfortunately, the situation spirals out of control when Santino stabs and kills Butler. Jimmy Tratner, on the other hand, grabs Sarchie from behind, but Mendoza subdues him with his rosary. Sarchie blames himself for Butler’s death and decides to humble himself before god, taking Mendoza’s advice. Meanwhile, Santino infiltrates Sarchie’s house and kidnaps his family. He even compels Jane to kill herself in front of Sarchie to send him a message. Sarchie hastily rushes his home and finds Santino standing in his living room.
Santino discloses to Sarchie that the only way he can save his family is by inviting evil to take control of his body. The cops arrive at the scene and arrest Santino. Later, Mendoza begins a full ritual exorcism on Santino in the interrogation room to learn the location of Sarchie’s wife, Jen, and daughter, Christina. The demon tries to hide behind the personality of the possessed, but Mendoza keeps spraying holy water on him. Santino tries to break Mendoza, revealing things from his past. Mendoza loses control but manages to calm himself, realizing that the evil is just playing tricks with his mind.
As the exorcism reaches its penultimate stage, Mendoza and Sarchie learn about the demon’s real name, Jungler, and finally manage to expel the demon, freeing Nick Santino. Next, Santino discloses Sarchie’s family location, claiming they’re trapped in Alphonsus Painting van, parked at the warehouse, and the movie concludes with the baptism of Sarchie’s second child.
Who Is Marvin?
When Sarchie informed Mendoza that his daughter kept on hearing clawing noises coming out of her closet, the latter advised him to humble himself to god if he wanted his help. Sarchie took his advice and confessed to killing someone years ago when he was a cop. Years ago, Sarchie and his fellow officers were tasked to take down Marvin Scrimm, a serial child predator and murderer. Marvin was everything Sarchie hated, and the latter fed out that hate.
Days after, Sarchie found the dead body of a 6-year-old girl and noticed Marvin standing in the crowd, who had come back to have a second look. Sarchie rushed after him, unleashing a relentless barrage of punches on him. Marvin begged Sarchie to stop, but his voice only fueled his anger. Sarchie kept punching Marvin, regardless of the consequences and eventually killed him. Since then, Sarchie has had darkness growing inside of him like cancer. Sarchie tried convincing himself that Marvin was a child killer and deserved to die, but the guilt kept eating him every day.
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