Director Lee Daniels has spoken about the strange events on the set of his new Netflix horror film. The Redemptionwhich is based on a true story.

Starring Andra Day, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Mo’Nique, the film is about Ebony Jackson (Day), a single mother who struggles with her personal demons and moves to a new home with her family for a fresh start.

But when strange occurrences in the house arouse the suspicion of the youth welfare office and threaten to tear the family apart, Ebony soon finds herself in a fight for her life and the souls of her children.

It is based on a 2014 Indianapolis Star Article “The Exorcisms of Latoya Ammons” about a mother who claimed she and her three children were tormented by shadowy figures and swarms of black flies.

In a recent interview with Sirius XM along with his cast, Daniels said he organized prayer circles on set to prevent supernatural occurrences.

“Things happen, and I didn’t want to let things happen on my set, and I needed it for myself too,” Daniels said.

“And yet, things still happened on set like, my sister is in every movie I do as my good luck charm, and she was in the scene with Glenn in the chemo scene, and she’s the one who brought her attitude to the chemo scene,” Daniels said.

“And two days later, after she was in the chemo scene, she was diagnosed with lung cancer – literally. My dog ​​died on set.”

Mo’Nique, who plays a social worker in the film, added that she was hospitalized after filming a particularly dramatic scene.

“Mr. Daniels had me do a scene, okay? And we’re outside. It was just that the demon was supposed to be on top of the building, so they kept messing that up… I mean, at one point I was like, ‘Lee, do we have to do this crap because I can’t breathe?'” Mo’Nique said.

She added: “When I was done, my thyroid was a big… I mean, it was just sick. Oh, baby. I was just like, ‘What the shit is this?’ A lot of things were happening to The Redemption.”

Stories of spooky occurrences have been omnipresent on the sets of horror films since 1973. The Exorcist.

During filming, several cast members and their families died unexpectedly, including Linda Blair’s grandfather. Production was also halted after a sudden electrical fire burned down the set and a priest was called in to exorcise the location.

The Redemption is now available on Netflix.