Martyrs isn’t even in theaters yet and already the third act is circulating like gossip at a funeral. The latest leak claims Scarlett Johansson’s character survives the exorcism only to become the permanent vessel for something ancient and hungry, because apparently dying is too merciful for modern horror. If this is accurate, Martyrs represents yet another sequel that mistakes suffering for depth and thinks nihilism equals profundity, which is exactly what the franchise needed after fifty years of diminishing returns.
The leak suggests the film concludes with Scarlett fully possessed but tragically conscious, trapped in her own body while the demon uses her to systematically murder the remaining priests and her own family. It’s the kind of downer ending that makes audiences feel tricked rather than terrified, the cinematic equivalent of a door slamming shut on your fingers while someone whispers that God is dead.
Martyrs apparently believes this is innovative storytelling, as if we haven’t seen possession since 1973 and every iteration since needed to out-grim the last one standing.
What’s fascinating is the specificity of these leaks. Martyrs plot details include scene descriptions that sound expensive—floating furniture, contorted bodies, Scarlett speaking in Aramaic while her eyes bleed with digitally enhanced tears that cost more than your car. Someone with access is talking, possibly because they recognize a disaster when they see dailies and want to warn the faithful.
The Exorcist franchise has struggled to justify its existence beyond William Friedkin’s original masterpiece, and Martyrs seems determined to prove that more vomit and crucifixion imagery automatically equals artistic relevance in a crowded marketplace.
Scarlett’s involvement raised eyebrows initially—she’s not known for horror beyond that one alien movie everyone pretends to understand at dinner parties. But Martyrs apparently gives her scenes of physical degradation that would make Jennifer Lawrence’s mother! performance look like a relaxing spa day with cucumber water. The leak describes a sequence where she crawls across broken glass while reciting nursery rhymes backwards in three languages, which is either brilliant performance art or evidence that the writers’ room has never actually met a woman experiencing trauma.
If the leaks hold water, Martyrs will test whether modern audiences want their exorcisms authentically bleak or if they’ve moved on to more interesting demons like grief, capitalism, or their student loans. The film isn’t scheduled for release until next year, but Martyrs is already exhausting everyone with its commitment to atmospheric darkness and practical effects that require therapy for the crew.
At least the marketing team won’t have to worry about spoilers ruining the experience—apparently the whole movie is one long spoiler for the concept of joy and happy endings.
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