The Exorcist’s 2026 Return Debuts To Rare Rotten Tomatoes Score

Warner Bros./ Courtesy: Everett Collection Published Aug 24, 2026, 10:16 AM EDT Hannah Gearan (she/her) is has been writing for ScreenRant for over three years. Her deep cinema love traces back to age 11, when she equipped herself with a spiral-bound notebook, rated all the films she watched, and declared herself a critic. About a decade later, she received a BA from Wesleyan University, where she studied Film, Environmental Studies, and Writing. Hannah’s short film, Toxic Faucets, has screened at numerous film festivals, including the Independent Film Festival of Boston (IFFBoston). As a Movie News writer now, she draws upon her vast experience studying, making, and analyzing film as she approaches dynamic breaking stories. Sign in to your ScreenRant account The critic reactions are in to the latest The Exorcist film, Boorman and the Devil. The Exorcist franchise kicked off in 1973, with the franchise's eponymous movie becoming one of the most iconic horror titles of all time. Since then, the franchise has gone on to have several sequels, including the 2023 movie The Exorcist: Believer. This year, the franchise is exploring a different side of itself. The reception of this latest installment is unveiled as the Rotten Tomatoes score comes in for Boorman and the Devil. At the time of writing, the critics' aggregate site awarded the film a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. This coveted score was achieved after reviews from 13 critics. It does not yet have an audience Popcornmeter. Unlike the fictional horror of its previous counterparts, Boorman and the Devil is a documentary film. The movie follows the story of John Boorman, a man hired to direct The Exorcist II, the sequel to the now beloved first film. While the Point Blank director went in with high hopes, the sequel ended up being a huge failure. In this behind-the-scenes documentary, Boorman and his cast and crew members discuss the film and its vision. Boorman and the Devil is not the first time that a documentary has been made based on the franchise. A documentary titled Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist was released in 2019, and a cult documentary called The Fear of God released as a TV movie back in 1998. However, both of these movies chronicled the making of and mystique surrounding the original 1973 film, and minimally addressed its sequels. As such, Boorman and the Devil will be the first movie to directly chronicle the making of Exorcist II: The Heretic. And an interesting story it is. Exorcist II may be one of the biggest disappointments in horror history, a feeling that can be measured both critically and at the box office. The sequel's Rotten Tomatoes score sits at just 10%, paling in comparison to the original's Certified Fresh 78%. The box office tells a similar story, with the first Exorcist making $430 million worldwide, and the second dropping to a depressing $30.7 million. Boorman and the Devil's universally positive critical reception gives the film a chance to make up for the bad experience of Exorcist II, reinventing its legacy. As a documentary, of course, the film is unlikely to make much of a box office splash when it hits theaters in limited release on August 28 and wider on September 4. Nonetheless, it will be an interesting — and as per the score, worthwhile — watch for the Exorcist fans who do discover it.