A Tennessee Roman Catholic priest is making a wild claim that “demons can be attached” to movies in response to comments from Steven Spielberg on his new alien film “Disclosure Day.”
Spielberg, the famed filmmaker behind hits such as “E.T.” and “Saving Private Ryan,” has been promoting his new movie and told CBS News recently that the film could raise serious questions for viewers of the Christian faith.
“The movie also takes the position of the church. What does this do to the fundamental beliefs that many of us have?” Spielberg said in the interview. “Is God, our God, only on this planet, or is God a God for every system where there’s civilization, intelligent life and even developing life?”
That speculation did not seem to sit well with Father Dan Reehil, a priest and exorcist with the Diocese of Nashville.
In a Wednesday Youtube video, Reehil said the director’s remarks are “odd.”
“Why would you make a movie with the distinct outcome being people’s faith would be shaken or lost?” Reehil asked. “That seems very much like something the Antichrist would do, or Satan.”
Spielberg has not explicitly said he intended for the movie to shake up Christian faith. Still, Reehil went on to suggest that the new movie could be cursed.
“One of the things that comes to mind is that the movie itself — I’m not saying this is what was done, but this could be done — the movie could be consecrated to Satan, and demons can be attached to the movie,” he said.
Reehil claimed that has happened with heavy metal and rock bands and suggested his audience to not watch the new film.
“You know, they could put a curse over the film that all who watch it would have demons provoke them. It could happen. We don’t know if it did, but it could,” he added.
Reehil seems to have a history of believing in spiritual connotations associated with the possibility of extraterrestial life. In 2024, he warned that entities claiming to be extraterrestrials could be demons attempting to deceive mankind into rejecting Christianity.
Many in the public have reacted to the priest’s claims amusedly as they go viral.
“Somebody should get him a mental health check,” one user said.
“If anything he’s helping to market the movie, to be honest,” another said.
The $115 million sci-fi thriller “Disclosure Day” pulled in a solid $19 million on its opening day across 3,824 North American theaters and is on track to rake in roughly $44 million by the end of the weekend.
