Those who follow the genre's roots are well aware of the ties Arabic lands have with the concepts of possession and exorcism genres, even if the pieces haven't been made obvious. With the fateful openings of William Friedkin's “The Exorcist” finding itself involving the unearthing of the cursed statue on Iraqi soil and Scott Derrickson's “Deliver Us from Evil” bringing itself up in the same area, the Middle East has been used as the spawning ground for eternal evil striking in the modern day, even if both films took the action back to the States. With “Three,” the first feature-length film from the first female director from the United Arab Emirates in Nayla Al Khaja, the genre heads to this fertile ground and stays there for its duration lending a distinct touch to this well-worn path.
Three review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
After a series of bizarre incidents, Maryam (Faten Ahmed) becomes concerned with the fate of her son Ahmed (Saud Alzarooni) as he soon starts to display a bizarre series of outbursts and behavioral ticks. With Dr. Mark Holly (Jefferson Holly) trying to look into the situation but being unable to come up with anything medically wrong with Ahmed, it only causes Maryam and her sister Noora (Noura Alabed) to become even more concerned as they start to notice even more unusual behavior from Ahmed as the days pass. When it finally grows too much for them and they're left with no other choice, they soon learn the problems stem from Ahmed's possession by three Djinn and decide to undergo a procedure to exorcise them from him, to save his soul and get him back to normal.
Overall, “Three” doesn't come off as original but is certainly enjoyable enough. Among its positive points is Nayla and co-writers Ben Williams, John Collee, and Masoud Amralla Al Ali's solid setup, offering just enough twists on the usual formula to be a worthwhile entry point into the film. Featuring the tell-tale build-up points where the signs of possession become immensely clear, this part is quite familiar overall but still manages to come across as a decent way to build the suspense of the situation. This becomes obvious when compared to the concurrent work on the rest of the family during this point. We get to see Maryam care for and try to comfort Ahmed with the increasing series of outbursts and disturbing ticks that hint at something going on but yet nothing medically viable is shown to be responsible.
This diagnosis goes against her and her sister Noora's beliefs, which show themselves to be strongly rooted in Islamic folklore involving the series of trials and diagnosis that goes into the whole scenario. Trying to understand what's going on with him and how that might explain his problems as well as figuring out a means of improving his condition, the evolution of Dr. Holly's acceptance and recognition that perhaps his Western way of dealing with the situation might end up being the thing that helps him. That setup eventually leads to help from the local parties and the realization of Ahmed's possession gives this a fine touch by including these familiar beats with local flavorings.
Since “Three” does go through such familiar beats to help build the case for Ahmed's possession, these scenes provide quite a lot to like about it. From unnatural freak-outs at school involving violence against teachers or peers, bizarre hallucinations, or generally creepy interactions with those around him, these early scenes painting the picture of Ahmed's condition signal the start of the creepy antics to eventually reach the point of the exorcism being necessary to rid him of the multitude of demons afflicting him.. As the local customs are somewhat different and unusual from the more traditional forms of exorcism usually seen in these kinds of films where it's based on Western culture, what goes here in these scenes offers a different point of view towards a common-enough occurrence for genre fans to follow along. Featuring enough spectacle with the attempts at preventing the exorcism and some fine effects work to pull off what's going on, this comes off with the requisite thrills and is entertaining to see play out.
There isn't much to dislike here, but “Three” has some slight issues. The main factor, which is most certainly a personal preference piece, comes from the use of so many familiar genre aspects due to the type of genre concept at play here. There are way too many instances where “Three” goes for the use of cliched instances of possession or exorcism films that set everything in motion down the path of traditional exorcism motives as there are some overused aspects on display, mainly the speaking in tongues, the jarring behavioral changes, or eye-flashes to denote something is inside him. It's all part and parcel to the type of genre featured here, where it has to go through this sort of build-up making everything that happens come off as familiar, even though the particulars here playing into Islamic heritage and lore are the only parts that are changed. The other slight drawback comes in the need to go for the overlong finale where a natural final point was reached and it then continues trying to create a wholly overdone it's-not-over-yet sting to bring the thrills back. These factors are what hold the film down.
Not doing anything new in the exorcism genre but remaining a fun time regardless, “Three” is a great time as long as you're willing to put aside originality in your genre fare as an important factor. Those who appreciate the style on display and can look past the flaws or are curious about it due to the country of origin will have a lot to like.
