Nefarious, Speak of the Devil

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Recently, while visiting our daughter and her family in Tennessee, we went to The House, [1] a church in their area. The lead pastor is Brian McKinney and we find his teaching to be captivating and biblically accurate. Brian is able to hold your attention while often providing new insight into Scripture that we sometimes take for granted.

This particular weekend, Brian was vacationing with his family, so Pastor Matt took the pulpit responsibilities and finished up the final chapter of 1 Peter. One of the things that Matt referred to in his message was the movie, Nefarious, produced by an independent Christian company. I’d not heard of it and Matt said that it was one of his favorite movies because of its theological insight.

Nefarious is about a man – Edward Wayne Brady – who is possessed by a demon, who refers to himself as Nefarious. Brady is in prison for murder and set to be executed. The bulk of the movie is set inside a prison where psychologist Dr. James Martin interviews Brady in order to determine whether or not he is sane enough to be executed under the laws of Oklahoma.

The entire movie essentially takes place in the interview room, with Brady chained/handcuffed to a table sitting across from Martin. I applaud actor Sean Patrick Flannery, who portrays Brady and Nefarious. He did a phenomenal job. I was half expecting to see an overly dramatic and frightful portrayal of a demon. Instead, I saw Flannery portray the demon with facial ticks and intense dialogue, often speaking so quickly, you had to pay thorough attention. In essence, Flannery’s portrayal was very believable, especially the way he would transition between demon and Brady. Amazing really.

The most amazing aspect though is the very nature of the theology that was espoused throughout the movie. I’d have to watch it again to determine if there was anything I disagreed with (not that this means it was wrong, but simply from my own biblical worldview). Generally, I found it fascinating the way Nefarious explained biblical truth. It really is a must-see by believers.

In the movie, Nefarious refers to Jesus as “the Carpenter.” I love that. In essence, Nefarious admits that what God did in Jesus totally took the demons and Satan himself by absolute surprise. They had no clue at all what was happening and their goal of getting rid of Jesus in death thought that they would then be in full control of the world and Creation itself. Instead, Nefarious admits that this was their biggest mistake.

It is also very interesting the way Nefarious describes God and His love for humanity. Nefarious essentially states that because God loves so much, He created people with free will. Why? Because God wants human beings to love Him of their own volition. If we human beings simply love God because we were designed/created that way, it really wouldn’t be choice, would it? So, God created us with the ability to choose and the propensity to sin. Of course we all sinned because Adam sinned, passing that tendency onto all human beings (Romans 3:23).

It is also amazing the way the demon Nefarious questions James, the psychologist. James is an atheist and proudly proclaims that to Nefarious, who laughs in his face asking if he (James) really believes his atheism will protect him from the truth and that hell is filled with atheists who now understand the reality of what they continually denied while alive.

The dialogue in Nefarious is first rate and carries viewers from one scene to the next. At one point, Dr. James Martin brags about how well he thinks humanity is doing: racism is being fought against, humanity is freer than ever, hate speech is a thing of the past, etc. Nefarious again laughs and sets Martin right about what he clearly cannot see because of his political delusions. Nefarious also states regarding hate speech that this was something “they” didn’t even have to create for humanity. Humanity did it all by themselves and that surprised even the demons. He further states that evil has become the norm and no one even notices it anymore.

One of the other interesting threads is the way that Nefarious reveals things about James that he could not have known since they had never met and because he was essentially in solitary confinement for 23 hours per day, he had no access to the Internet to do any searches on James. Of course, James is shocked at what Nefarious seems to know about him even pointing out things about James’ girlfriend Melanie and what she was doing that very day.

I won’t ruin the movie for readers who have not seen it, but there are a few twists in the movie, especially toward the end that highlight the fact that James has come to a point where he questions everything he previously believed about God, religion and spiritual entities. Glenn Beck makes an appearance as the host of his show, interviewing Dr. James Martin one year after his meeting with Nefarious/Edward Wayne Brady.

As I watched the movie, I was reminded that demons and angels are around us. While angels seek to protect us, demons of course are there to make life miserable for us, to dissuade us from moving toward God by following Him, and essentially doing what they can to defeat us at every turn.

That part is often difficult for us because unlike Elisha, we cannot see into the spiritual realm and he also prayed that one of the servants with him who became concerned because of the armies of Syria, would be able to see into that spiritual realm as well. God answered that prayer and the servant saw the angelic helpers waiting to deliver (2 Kings 6:8-23).

I think for most of us, life would be exceedingly different if we were privy to what occurs in the spiritual realm. However, it is also clear that were we able to see into that sphere, faith would no longer be required, would it? We grow in faith when we exercise it.

Overall, Nefarious is an movie that trumpets God’s truth, righteousness and His desire to bring us into relationship with Him because of His great love for humanity and His Creation in general. Though many souls will leave this life never receiving from God the salvation that He designed in order to escape eternal punishment, there are and will continue to be those who reach out to God in faith and understand that they are need of His love, His salvation, His forgiveness and His righteousness. I highly recommend this movie, but if you have young children, you should probably watch it after they go to bed.

There is literally only one swear word in the movie (b*astard). That’s it. Even atheist Dr. James Martin does not resort to swear words. While the movie certainly has dark tones, it does not use darkness as an excuse to portray demonic power. The one thing that’s missing is the malevolence that one would necessarily feel in the presence of actual demons. I take that to mean that Dr. James Martin is unaware of this while interviewing Nefarious. However, he alludes to it later.

Overall, Nefarious is an excellent movie that delves deeply into the biblical record of God’s Creation, the fall of angelic beings, the fall of humanity, and the purpose ascribed to by fallen angels in their quest to subvert and replace God with Satan.

Nefarious is available to watch for free on Amazon Prime[2] (if a member) and on YouTube[3] as well in its entirety. Please note there are two movies called “Nefarious” on Prime, so you’ll want to ensure that you are watching the movie starring Sean Patrick Flannery.

Here is the official trailer for Nefarious:

[1] https://www.thehousechatt.com/

[2] https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0BZS9WHFP/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

[3] https://youtu.be/EcOmWePP7UY

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Source: https://studygrowknowblog.com/2026/05/26/nefarious-speak-of-the-devil/