In My Best Friend’s Exorcism, a demonic possession tests the ties that bind
Led by great turns from Elsie Fisher and Amiah Miller, this adaptation of the Grady Hendrix novel delivers superficial thrills after a more substantive setup

As our collective fascination with 1980s pop culture tirelessly continues—particularly in the world of horror—it was perhaps inevitable that the novels of Grady Hendrix would get adapted, especially since they’re pastiches and subversions of popular genre tropes. My Best Friend’s Exorcism marks the first adaptation of his work—directed by Damon Thomas from a screenplay from Jenna Lamia—and it ticks all of the boxes expected from a supernatural teen horror flick. But although the film makes some notable insights about the teenage psyche, there isn’t quite enough ‘there’ there to elevate the film above the ranks of average horror programming.
When BFFs Abby (Elsie Fisher) and Gretchen (Amiah Miller) accompany their friends Margaret (Rachel Ogechi Kanu) and Glee (Cathy Ang) to Margaret’s family’s summer cabin for a night of spooky bonding, the girls drop acid at the urging of Margaret’s party-crashing boyfriend Wallace (Clayton Royal Johnson). When Abby and Gretchen wander off to investigate an eerie shack out in the woods, they get separated and Gretchen is lured into the grasp of a mysterious force. Afterward, Gretchen’s behavior becomes erratic, first paranoid and ill, then vindictive and hostile, pushing her relationship with Abby to its breaking point. However, Abby eventually uncovers that this isn’t the result of some drug-induced behavioral shift, but a possession.
What’s perhaps most surprising about My Best Friend’s Exorcism is how well the first half of the film works as an examination of teenage girl relationships without any of the accompanying supernatural elements. Abby’s first suspicion is a mistaken belief that Gretchen’s bizarre personality shift was caused by a sexual assault in the abandoned shack, so she attributes her friend’s experiences of whispered voices and night paralysis to PTSD.