‘The Deliverance’: How Netflix Viewers Responded To Glenn Close’s Portrayal Of A Bimbo Named Alberta

Lee Daniels tried to warn everybody before The Deliverance dropped on Netflix: “Y’all are not ready for Glenn in this.”

The director is talking about Glenn Close, who plays the chain-smoking, cancer-riddled mother of Andra Day in the film that’s inspired by real events. Daniels’ first foray into the horror genre shot to No. 1 on Netflix after dropping Aug. 30, which may have a little bit — or a whole lot — to do with Close, who clearly had the time of her life playing a tramp named Alberta.

In The Deliverance, Alberta is the mom of Ebony (Day), an alcoholic single mom whose hands are full with three kids, no money and a haunted home that’s fooling a social worker (Mo’Nique) into thinking that she’s beating her kids. The story is inspired by the 2011 case of Latoya Ammons, who moved with her family into a scary Indiana rental that ultimately required an exorcism by a priest.

While promoting The Deliverance, Daniels talked about the uniqueness of Close’s larger than life character, who goes from braiding her daughter’s hair while watching Valley Of the Dolls on TV to trying to pick up her male nurse (Omar Epps) while getting a dose of chemotherapy.

“Every Black person knows an Alberta,” Daniels wrote on X. “She’s part of the fabric of our community, but we’ve never seen her on screen before. Thank you Glenn for bringing her magnificently to life.”

To fully embrace her role, Close said in a recent interview for Netflix that she had to come to terms with Alberta’s wardrobe that leaves little to the imagination.

“It really was the first time I got into those clothes that I started to get a window into who this woman was,” said Close. “You can’t wear those closes and be self conscious about your body. And so from that, I said, ‘oh okay, I get it. I know no matter what Lee puts me in, I am the sexiest woman on the street.”

Here’s a sampling of Close’s online “reviews.”