Movie review
April 12, 2023 · 96 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Evil Dead Rise.
Woke representation / casting
Casting of transgender actor Morgan Davies as the teenage boy Danny stands out as audience-visible identity inclusion in a family role, even though the character has no gender-related plot or dialogue; this draws mixed reactions as signaling without deeper story integration.
Woke political dialogue
No political speeches, activist language, or ideological discussions appear; all conversations stay within family tension, pregnancy news, and horror survival.
Identity-driven story themes
Core narrative focuses on twisted motherhood, sibling bonds, and demonic possession in traditional horror style with no gender identity, sexuality, race, or social-justice arcs; a child's minor environmental-activist hobby remains undeveloped background detail.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Review
Evil Dead Rise is a 2023 supernatural horror film that moves the Evil Dead franchise to a condemned Los Angeles apartment building. Estranged sisters reunite as one child accidentally unleashes demons from the Book of the Dead, possessing their mother and forcing the family into a brutal fight for survival against grotesque, flesh-possessing threats. The story delivers classic possession horror, heavy gore, and family betrayal with no prominent political, activist, or identity-driven messaging beyond the casting of a transgender actor as one of the teenage children.
No framing of traditional family structures, masculinity, religion, or Western norms as flawed or oppressive; religious and demonic elements function as standard horror tropes without modern activist reinterpretation.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant; this is an original story with new characters and an apartment setting while preserving classic Evil Dead possession rules.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Niche but clear complaints from viewers and sites called out the transgender casting as unnecessary diversity or woke signaling; discussions appeared on Reddit, YouTube, and anti-woke review outlets, though they stayed limited and did not dominate coverage.
Creator track record context
Sam Raimi shows mixed past political donations but no consistent woke or activist creative pattern across horror and genre films; Lee Cronin and Robert Tapert similarly lack identity-driven or modern social-justice focus in their work or statements.
Production
