When demonic possession can be coined as ‘charming’ you know you’ve found something a little special. The Extra Ordinary movie follows a girl called Rose whose quiet temperament belies her supernatural powers. Because Rose thinks she caused the untimely death of her beloved father, she doesn’t like to talk to ghosts anymore. Instead, she is just a driving instructor who sits at home listening to the endless messages from people in town. They all know who she is and what she can do.
Directed by Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, with additional writing from Demian Fox and Maeve Higgins who stars as Rose. This review for the Extra Ordinary movie was featured as part of the Mother of Movies press cover for 2019’s Fantasia International Film Festival. The festival is held in July and the film screened ahead of an Australian premiere at Melbourne International Film Festival on August 2nd.
Where to Watch Extraordinary 2019
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Shout at the Devil And This Movie Review of Extra Ordinary
Firstly, demonic possession runs rampant in the narrative of Extra Ordinary with Will Forte starring as Christian Winter, a one-hit-wonder. He calls to the spirits looking to sacrifice a virgin and kick start his rock and roll career back into action. How does he locate virgins? With his phallic virgin divination rod of course! Used just as one would use water divining rods, Christian needs a replacement virgin after his other one exploded.
I have no idea why Forte’s character of Christian appealed to me. Just the right amount of stupid and expert rolled into one perhaps. His wife slash assistant not so much, but I’m sure Claudia is meant to be annoying. Together, as the nominal ‘bad guys’ they do make a good team.
The film starts remarkably strong. There are some very funny scenarios and video playback of the fantasy realm created for the spiritual undertone of the movie. These short videos were my favorite part of the narration and served up some pretty humourous side notes on demonic possession. Vincent Dooley hosts a television show that serves as the film’s instruction manual on ghostly presences. Each video features some great clues as to what things mean from the spirit world.
Do you ever have nightmares after eating cheese?
YOU MIGHT HAVE EATEN A GHOST!
Little Ghost
Between explaining why ghosts can get into the cheese in the first place and surmising that ghosts were actually “just like us once,” his videos were something I looked forward to.
Rose, his daughter, is a restrained personality. She’s a meek and mild woman who’s been raised on gloat floating and sacrifice rituals. She also knows how to channel spirits to send them off to their final resting place. Her demeanor is also the perfect backdrop to offset the bizarre things that happen.
The story cornered by the Extra Ordinary movie barrels forward with much gusto and for the most part, I was absolutely on board. However, at times there seemed to be a lack of focus and a little too much vomiting ectoplasm for my liking. A couple of times is tolerable but by the time I lost count was probably enough.
Like any comedy movie of this kind, there are bound to be jokes that hit and also miss but there is enough quirky stuff to fill in the gaps.
Finally, by the end of this horror and comedy foray, what you get is something that you’ll remember and maybe even quote from time to time. I found the twist on psychic abilities, ghostbusters reference, and demonic possession traits entirely great.
Most noteworthy, even the use of CGI and sheets as ghosts worked so that’s saying something.
I give Extra Ordinary
3 different strokes for demons out of 5
Extraordinary Movie Trailer
