Do you want scraggly Aaron Eckhart in your brain? Seriously, this was the biggest problem of my Incarnate experience. Dude, it’s bad enough my body has been taken over by a demon, now I got that in my head as well. Geez. I need a brain enema.
Basic premise here is there are demons who take over your body and put you in a dream state while they just sit there, enjoying your body. I don’t quite get it. Not gonna take it out for a spin or anything? Just gonna sit there? OK. Well, to be fair, the demon that opens this story is a dumpster diver. You take over a human body just to go searching through thrash cans? Classy. I guess that didn’t work out, cuz next thing you knew, the homeless demon scaled four stories of building and transferred to a kid (David Mazouz). While this would appear to be a step-up, all the demon kid does is sit there hoping someone will touch him, so he can break their arm.
Luckily, there’s a guy who’s pretty good at getting the demons out of bodies. Dr. Seth Ember (Eckhart) has the ability to project into your mind while you sleep. Isn’t that cool, if totally invasive? And from that position, he can expunge demons. Of course he can. The religious angle is downplayed here; he even calls it an “eviction” not an “exorcism.” Basically, what happens is you, the possessed guy, are living in your head – the demon has Matrixed you to believe you’re rich or popular or whatever the Mirror of Erised showed you, when all of a sudden Aaron Eckhart shows up and tells you you’re not rich or popular or winning the Quidditch world cup and quick, you gotta jump out this window. In the real world, your body slams to the floor and you wake in pain staring at greasy, unshaven, wheelchair bound Aaron Eckhart … and you really aren’t winning the Quidditch world cup, either; you’re a loser.
Look, you gotta nip this thing in the bud. When he shows up, you have to be firm and speak clearly, “No, Aaron Eckhart! I like being a Prefect; you go away and let me have my precious, precious demon time.” Oh, and 
Dr. Seth has a personal demon – not a metaphorical personal demon, but an actual demon who taunts him through possession. He calls this demon Maggie, named after the inhabitant who trashed Dr. Seth’s life years ago. Yes, the vile demon “Maggie.” I guess the demons “Gertrude” and “Hortence” were already occupied. Seriously, demons shouldn’t be named after my grandmother. That, however, is a minor point. I have issue with Aaron Eckhart interrupting “me time” and deliberately forcing reality upon my person. WTF? How many of us really want reality? I could make a pretty strong case that every single Trump voter clearly doesn’t. That’s millions upon million of folks; imagine anybody attached to those people – think they want reality any more than a person willing to vote for Trump? Bottom line – Aaron Eckhart, get out of my head.
Incarnate is neither thrilling nor scary, which violates the two biggest requirements for horror. It isn’t terrible, however, and it is original in that way that any “original” can be created by smashing together a classic horror (The Exorcist) with a classic sci-fi (Inception). Here, let me “originate” some new horror:
Invasion of the Body Apes – An alien species has come to earth and replaced your loved ones with simian replicas.
2001: This Time It’s Personal – A malicious independently minded spaceship computer turns out to be a deadly great white shark.
Psychop – A robotic policeman from the future prefers to be alone … and kill people.
The OmET – A lovable Reese’s Pieces noshin’ alien turns out to be the child of Satan.
I leave you now to invent your own “original” horror.
♪A dream release is going on in my head
A dream release is what I need instead
A dream release
That Eckhart is inside me
Oh no
You know that guy is cheap
He don’t ask a price
And when I fall asleep
My thoughts were nice
‘Til him
‘Til him
‘Cause he interrupts me
Says I am not free
Instigates a fight
He’s driving me insane
Here he comes again
A dream release is going on in my head
A dream release is what I need instead
A dream release
That Eckhart is inside me
Oh no♫
Rated PG-13, 91 Minutes
D: Brad Peyton
W: Ronnie Christensen
Genre: Hunting dream demons
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Azazel (the demon, not the X-Man)
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Schizophrenics
♪ Parody inspired by “Dream Police”
