The injection of clearly anachronistic elements, such as the style of dress, the house, the car, and the school, creates a very striking atmosphere, as if we were watching a late‑50s or early‑60s horror film, both tonally and visually, but set in the present day.

This is paired with a successfully sustained eerie and uncomfortable mood throughout the story, with special mention for the school bully, as well as occasional bursts of genuinely shocking violence.

It is true that the resolution is rather telegraphed and presented quite conventionally, but it is nonetheless satisfying. However, the one element that truly cannot be redeemed is the role of religion and the possession sequences, which feel entirely dispensable and at times verge on the unintentionally laughable.