The first trailer for The Exorcist: Martyrs reveals Scarlett Johansson in the role of Julie Miller, a New York detective drawn into an investigation where ritual crimes intersect with a supernatural threat. Written and directed by Mike Flanagan, this new episode of the saga is expected exclusively in theaters on March 12, 2027.
- The full trailer was unveiled on October 9, 2026, after a 15-second teaser released two days earlier.
- Julie Miller investigates a murder committed in a church, linked to an old case and the satanic killer Father Sunday.
- The film blends police thriller, religion, and demonic possession, with a cast including notably Chiwetel Ejiofor, John Leguizamo, and Diane Lane.
The horror film thus places a heroine confronted both with the demands of her job and the protection of her son. The first images promise an investigation where every clue leads Julie to a dangerous past.
Scarlett Johansson in The Exorcist: Martyrs: an investigation targeting her directly
In The Exorcist: Martyrs, Scarlett Johansson plays Julie Miller, a homicide detective for the New York police. The trailer introduces her at the heart of a case that initially seems to be part of a detective’s usual work: examining a crime scene, establishing links between clues, and finding the perpetrator. The discovery of a ritual murder in a church quickly gives the investigation a dimension that goes beyond ordinary procedures.
The victim is an altar boy under 16 years old. In the crypt, Julie’s name is written with the victim’s blood on the walls. This detail changes the nature of the case: the detective is no longer simply tasked with solving a crime, she seems to have been designated by the perpetrator. For the viewer, this inscription functions as an immediate threat and a puzzle. Why Julie? What connection does this scene have with her story?
The story adds an intimate responsibility to this professional pressure. Julie is a single mother raising Max, her 12-year-old son, played by Jacobi Jupe. This fact can make every decision more tense: a lead pursued late at night, a prolonged absence, or a danger approaching home do not just affect the detective. They threaten the balance of a family that the film includes in its suspense mechanism.
A criminal past that comes back to haunt Julie Miller
The new murders bring Julie back to Father Sunday, a satanic serial killer she had arrested several years earlier. John Leguizamo plays this character, whom the trailer shows at the moment of his execution. This sequence sets up a troubling contradiction: if the criminal was sentenced and executed, how can his name remain associated with the ongoing events? The film maintains this question without providing an answer in its promotional images.
This construction gives the investigation a form of retrospective countdown. Julie must understand the present crimes, but also reexamine a case she thought was closed. An old file may contain overlooked elements, incomplete testimonies, or consequences that justice could not measure. The story seems to make these traces the gateway to a supernatural threat, without erasing the concrete police work.
To make this mix readable, the trailer sets several visual and narrative markers:
- A victim found in a religious place, at the center of a ritual murder.
- A crypt where Julie’s name turns the scene into a personal warning.
- Father Sunday, executed criminal whose shadow seems to persist after death.
- Max, whose presence reminds that the investigation may expose the detective’s family.
The film’s first challenge is therefore less about showing a monster than about shaking Julie’s certainties: the threat is criminal by its signs, personal by its target, and possibly demonic by its origin.
A trailer between police thriller and demonic possession
The first full trailer, released on October 9, 2026, presents a balance between criminal investigation and supernatural horror. The progression starts with concrete elements — a victim, a crime scene, a former suspect — then gradually opens the possibility of a presence that cannot be reduced to a police explanation. This passage from the tangible to the inexplicable gives the film its main tension: each piece of evidence can clarify the case or make Julie’s world more unsettling.
The religious setting plays a central role in this evolution. The church and its crypt are not simply visually dark places; they bring crime closer to concepts of guilt, faith, and ritual. The symbols associated with religion confront the characters with signs that can be the result of human staging or a supernatural force. Can a methodical investigation suffice when the clues seem to borrow from the language of the sacred? It is precisely this hesitation that feeds the suspense.
The film does not seem to abandon the detective genre codes in favor of a classic exorcism story. Julie remains a detective faced with facts and victims. The character of Father William, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, offers another way to approach the events: a former prison chaplain, he can act as an intermediary between the judicial world and spiritual questions. The trailer thus establishes cooperation between characters who do not have the same tools to interpret the danger.
Why the crypt and ritual clues instill fear
In a supernatural thriller, fear can arise from the gap between what characters know and what they can prove. A bloody inscription has a material explanation; its meaning, however, may remain opaque. Likewise, Father Sunday’s execution is a judicial fact, but it does not guarantee that the case is truly closed. The film relies on this separation between the certainty of facts and the uncertainty of their meaning.
The 15-second teaser released October 7, 2026 had already shown an investigation, a church, and signs of a demonic presence. The full trailer extends this first impression by giving a larger role to Julie and the links with Father Sunday. This campaign progresses in stages: first a brief image to create an atmosphere, then a more developed presentation of the characters and the conflict.
The thrust of the trailer lies in this double reading: each scene can belong to a criminal investigation, while hinting at a supernatural explanation. The viewer is invited to search for clues alongside Julie, without yet being able to decide if the evil is human, demonic, or both.
The cast of The Exorcist: Martyrs around Scarlett Johansson
Around Scarlett Johansson, the cast brings together actors tasked with representing several facets of the investigation. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Father William, a former prison chaplain who comes to Julie’s aid. Sasha Calle plays Gina Restrepo, a young detective. Laurence Fishburne appears as a priest involved in the events, while John Leguizamo portrays Father Sunday, the former satanic killer central to the heroine’s past.
These characters form a team with different skills. The police gather material evidence and follow criminal leads; religious figures can help interpret rites and signs that go beyond the usual scope of an investigation. The film can thus confront two methods without rendering one useless: evidence remains necessary, while some phenomena may require another vocabulary to be understood.
A threat that also affects Julie’s family
Diane Lane plays Mary, Julie’s mother, and Jacobi Jupe plays Max, the detective’s 12-year-old son. Their presence prevents the heroine from being defined only by her badge. Like many thriller characters, Julie must manage conflicting constraints: advancing in a dangerous investigation, remaining available for her child, and maintaining family ties during a period where threats accumulate.
This choice can enhance the suspense’s impact without requiring spectacular scenes at every moment. A family conversation interrupted by a professional call or Julie’s concern with Max’s questions suffice to make the danger concrete. If the investigation approaches her home, the risk is no longer measured only by the possibility of injury or professional failure. It concerns the safety of those she seeks to protect.
The announced cast also includes Scoot McNairy, Gil Bellows, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Hamish Linklater, Carl Lumbly, Robert Longstreet, Matt Biedel, Kate Siegel, John Gallagher Jr., Benjamin Pajak, and Carla Gugino. The roles of several of them have not been specified in the available information, leaving a part of mystery about each character’s place in the plot. Several names are associated with Mike Flanagan’s previous productions, while Johansson occupies the center of a new story.
Samantha Sloyan described the project as the scariest film ever made by Flanagan. This statement expresses her personal appreciation and does not constitute an objective measure of the film’s intensity. It nevertheless aligns with the tone of the promotion, which emphasizes chills, unsettling religious locations, and the possibility of a threat escaping rational explanations.
By bringing together police, relatives, and religious figures, the cast gives the story several emotional anchors. Julie cannot solve the case alone without testing the bonds that define her.
Mike Flanagan and the new direction of The Exorcist saga
Mike Flanagan writes and directs The Exorcist: Martyrs, described as the seventh installment of the saga. The filmmaker became known to horror fans through works like The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and The Fall of the House of Usher. He also adapted Stephen King’s texts, notably Gerald’s Game, The Life of Chuck, and Carrie. This background highlights the project’s interest: Flanagan often works on how trauma and personal beliefs shape fear.
The new story fits into the franchise’s legacy while adopting a police starting point. Instead of following only a family confronted with demonic possession, the film places a detective at the center of a series of crimes and links the case to a killer she had arrested. This perspective changes the story’s doorway: the viewer first discovers clues, responsibilities, and investigative decisions, then faces elements threatening to go beyond criminal logic.
From investigation to questions of faith
The presence of Father William and other religious figures allows exorcism to be approached as both a spiritual and dramatic issue. In such a story, faith is not only used to create recognizable images; it can determine how characters understand evil, assess a threat, and decide to act. Faced with an unexplained phenomenon, Julie can ask for evidence, while a priest can interpret certain signs through religious tradition. The conflict between these approaches feeds the supernatural thriller.
The title Martyrs itself evokes sacrifice and suffering related to a belief, without the trailer yet revealing its precise meaning in the story. Combined with the crypt, religious symbols, and ritual murder, it gives the film a serious tone. The promotional images thus suggest a horror founded not only on appearances: it is rooted in acts, choices, and a past that Julie thought she mastered.
The saga enters a new stage by maintaining its interest in possession and spiritual confrontations but placing them in a contemporary urban investigation setting. This combination can attract both horror fans and those who prefer structured police plots. Flanagan’s challenge will be to keep the two threads in tension: if supernatural clues come too early, the investigation loses its mystery; if they remain too abstract, the demonic dimension risks seeming decorative.
The proposal therefore rests on a meeting between heritage and new method: a franchise known for exorcism, a police heroine, and a director accustomed to developing characters marked by their wounds. The story can renew its atmosphere without giving up the questions of faith that belong to its universe.
Release date and schedule for The Exorcist: Martyrs trailer
After the brief teaser released on October 7, 2026, the first full trailer was unveiled on Friday, October 9. The film is announced exclusively in theaters on March 12, 2027. This schedule clearly distinguishes the campaign stages: a first glimpse intended to set the mood, a more developed trailer to present the plot, then a theatrical release a few months later.
| Event | Announced date | What it reveals |
|---|---|---|
| Publication of the 15-second teaser | October 7, 2026 | A first mention of the church, the investigation, and the supernatural threat. |
| Unveiling of the full trailer | October 9, 2026 | A more precise presentation of Julie Miller, Father Sunday, and the central conflict. |
| Exclusive theatrical release | March 12, 2027 | The saga’s return to the big screen, in an experience designed for theaters. |
What the first images announce without revealing
The trailer delivers enough elements to understand Julie’s situation but preserves several shadows. It does not specify the exact nature of the supernatural phenomena nor the complete connection between Father Sunday and the new crimes. It also does not detail the role of several cast members. These absences help maintain the mystery: the audience has landmarks, not a definitive explanation.
The film is associated with Universal Pictures, and Blumhouse was also mentioned in its promotion. Six first images accompanied the announcement of the project and its release date. The new trailer then develops the narrative principle: a detective known for her work finds herself confronted with a case that seems to know her story better than she does.
For fans of the franchise, the theatrical release invites observation of how the film articulates investigation and horror spectacle. The enclosed spaces of the church, the crime scenes, and the confrontations between characters can benefit from the darkness and collective concentration specific to cinema. For viewers drawn by Scarlett Johansson or Flanagan’s work, the entry is more through Julie’s character and the progression of the case.
The schedule finally establishes a precise waiting time: the trailer has been accessible since October 2026, while the public will have to wait until March 12, 2027 to discover the full story. Until then, the mystery hinges on a simple but weighty question: when the criminal was executed, who is still pursuing the investigation — and who is pursuing Julie?
