Parents' Guide to Nefarious

Well-acted and with decent production values, this faith-based thriller unfortunately gets stuck in its two-person back-and-forth sermoning, making it all too obvious what the outcome will be. At first, Nefarious looks like it will be heading into a tense stand-off, but before long it becomes clear that there's an agenda in place. James, an atheist, soon becomes powerless against the all-knowing demon, and every single thing he says is challenged and shot down, with no possible retort available. Then the inevitable happens, with no suspense. But what's confusing is that, if the movie is siding with the monster (as it does, all the way up to the cop-out coda), what is it really about? Even the fact-based elements -- like the process of an execution or the protocols of psychiatry -- seem to have been short-changed. Eventually, there's little to do but focus on the movie's smaller flaws, like Flanery's scenery chewing performance (he rapidly flicks his eyes and looks like he's trying to pick something out of his teeth with his tongue), or the baffling number of times he says "James" or "Jimmy," even though it's only the two of them in the room. In the end, Nefarious is a great title wasted on a letdown of a movie.