Line #20 Film/Belzebuth


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/belzebuth_poster.jpg]]
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3	''Belzebuth'' is a 2019 Mexican horror film, co-starring Creator/TobinBell.
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5	A recent string of mass murders resulting in the deaths of many children forces a bereaved cop to investigate the killings, all seemingly linked to a mysterious priest and a demonic force with nefarious plans for mankind.
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8	!!Tropes featured in this work:
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10	* AntagonistTitle: Interestingly, though, Belzebuth is never called by name until the end.
11	* TheAntichrist: Never actually shown in the movie, but Belzebuth alludes to his "son". It should be pretty clear who he's referring to.
12	* {{Bathos}}: After the incredibly grim school shooting, a reporter asks Ritter if he thinks the shooting is tied to the "student cartels".
13	* BeenThereShapedHistory: [[spoiler:Belzebuth engineered the [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades First Crusade]] to stop the original Second Coming.]]
14	* BigBad: Belzebuth, AKA {{Satan}} himself, who is committing mass murders of children to try and prevent the Second Coming.
15	* CowboyCop: Ritter becomes this in the second act, prone to defying orders from Najera when it suits his current mission and beating Ivan Franco nearly to death. Even before that, he was pretty ill-tempered, though more out of impatience with his perceived incompetence of the American law enforcement.
16	* DarkIsNotEvil: Canetti wears black and is covered in demonic sigil tattoos, and he was excommunicated from the Catholic church for communicating with demons. He's also incredibly shady, always lurking nearby the site of each massacre. [[spoiler:As it turns out, he sold his soul to find the reincarnation of the Messiah to protect him.]]
17	* DealWithTheDevil: Belzebuth, being [[Main/{{Satan}} Belzebuth]], is prone to these. He tries to offer Ritter his family back, and [[spoiler:it's revealed that Canetti made a deal with him to track down the reincarnation of the Messiah, but tried to back out by way of multiple child sacrifices.]]
18	* DeathOfAChild: The film actually opens with several. In fact, it's all part of Belzebuth's plan to [[spoiler:make sure the reincarnation of Christ never fulfills his duty.]]
19	* FliesEqualsEvil: When Franco and Ritter are in the church, they find a swarm of flies leading towards a fallen crucifix statue. Franco notes that the flies indicate a dark presence. Historically, "Beelzebub" means "lord of the flies".
20	* TheGhost: We never see the much-maligned Chief Najera, though his voice can be faintly heard in one scene.
21	* JackassGenie: At one point, Belzebuth tries to tempt Ritter by promising to return his family to him, and Ritter leaves the circle to hold his baby. [[spoiler:Said baby is little more than a rotting corpse wrapped up in a blanket.]]
22	* LargeHam: When Ritter [[spoiler:(now possessed by Belzebuth)]] starts accusing Canetti of murdering the children he sought out, he cranks up the ham a few notches. He's even a little hammy even before that.
23	-->'''Ritter[[spoiler:/Belzebuth]]:''' '''''BOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLSHIT!'''''
24	* MurderSuicide: Part of Belzebuth’s MO. Once his hosts have fulfilled their goal, he makes them kill themselves. Or he just makes them kill themselves while taking as many people with them.
25	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: The name "Vasilio Canetti" is Italian and he's all but stated to have been a priest from the Vatican, but Tobin Bell just uses his normal voice.
26	* OmnicidalManiac: Belzebuth expresses his intent to destroy the world. Given the reach of his influence, it seems pretty safe to assume that he can.
27	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: These are fallen angels who seek nothing short of the destruction of the Messiah. They can only interact with the human world by possessing people or objects, but possess complete control over such barring an exorcism. If they're sufficiently powerful, they can destroy the soul of their host, but any human who manages to overcome them is forever immune to demonic influence.
28	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:After Belzebuth drops a [[WouldHurtAChild horrible truth bomb about Canetti]], Canetti seizes Ritter and allows himself to be possessed, and uses his last ounces of free will and strength to seal the demon away inside a rock forever before collapsing on the rock, dead, having effectively saved the world. But he also willingly damned his own soul to Hell, so the "redemption" part is a bit of a stretch.]]
29	* RRatedOpening: The movie opens ''with babies being stabbed to death.''
30	* SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler:Belzebuth becomes this at the end, when Canetti traps him inside an altar, and Ritter detonates the smuggling tunnels for good measure.]]
31	* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:Once the heroes chain him down, Belzebuth tries to warn them that Canetti is the real murderer. And it turns out that he actually was, sacrificing several children to break his pact with him. Of course, it's entirely possible that he was just trying to cause dissent and crush any hope the heroes had.]]
32	* WhamLine: While the group is heading through the smuggling tunnel, Canetti informs them that [[spoiler:he sold his soul to Belzebuth in order to find and protect Isa.]]
33	* WouldHurtAChild: Belzebuth possesses hosts to kill children en masse. He also demands child sacrifices for appeasement.

Context Film / Belzebuth