PHOTO BY AARON RICKETTS / NETFLIX

All this to deal with — and now demons show up?

“The Deliverance,” a tale of sinister hauntings directed by Lee Daniels, manages a tricky maneuver: It’s a work of horror fantasy that feels entirely grounded in reality. The demons may be supernatural, but the real terrors are addiction, generational trauma and economic hardship.

Related: Director Lee Daniels Made ‘The Deliverance’ in Pittsburgh — and Wants to Come Back

It’s the only movie I can think of where the devil only makes the situation marginally worse.

Ebony (Andra Day) is trying to raise three children (Caleb McLaughlin, Demi Singleton and Anthony B. Jenkins) in a small, decaying home in an industrial neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The children’s father has left town, owing to years of struggles with Ebony’s anger and drinking. Her mother, Alberta (Glenn Close), has moved in to help but mostly succeeds in enraging Ebony.

Child Services, represented by an unflappable social worker (Mo’Nique), is suspicious of the circumstances — not to mention the kids’ worsening behavior at school. Alberta keeps dragging everyone to church, where a charismatic preacher (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) leads a dedicated flock, but Ebony can’t keep her rage in check.

About then, someone finally notices the infestation of seemingly endless black flies — and the fact that the kids keep walking around with glassy looks in their eyes.

The path ahead certainly leads through faith; it’s a journey many horror movies with religious themes undertake. There’s something deeper to it in “The Deliverance,” however, as the solution lies not merely in grabbing a Bible and chanting lines from “The Exorcist.” Ebony is going to have to win her own struggle with God before she can deal with the literal demons.

Or are all the demons found inward? Probably not; there’s some very literal possession going on here. But the conclusion certainly makes you wonder.

“The Deliverance” is slightly based on reports of a haunting in Indiana, transferred to Pittsburgh for reasons both practical (those tax breaks) and artistic (the filmmakers want to specify that the story is inspired by the tale, not an adaptation of it). Daniels sets aside the quick-scare toolbox — there are no jump scares here, nor any partially lit flashbacks — and opts to spend time with the real circumstances and struggles of a family’s life. It results in scares more keenly felt; we know these people and are rooting for them, in spite of their many flaws.

The cast, too, is due praise — especially Day, who never even considers softening the hard edges around Ebony. She commands the screen without giving her character a scrap of mitigation; Ebony is not likable, yet we will follow her into hell. That’s a remarkable achievement.

My Rating: 8/10

“The Deliverance” begins streaming Aug. 30 on Netflix.