The Pope’s Exorcist. 2023
Directed by Julius Avery.
Starring Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto, Alex Essoe, Franco Nero, Laurel Marsden, Cornell John, Ralph Ineson, River Hawkins, Pablo Raybould, Ryan O’Grady, Alessandro Gruttadauria, Bianca Bardoe, Paloma Bloyd, and Carrie Munro.
SYNOPSIS:
Follow Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s leading exorcist, as he investigates the possession of a child and uncovers a conspiracy the Vatican has tried to keep secret.
Somewhere in the world, at some point in time, director Julius Avery found himself watching one of those generic awful exorcism movies that seem to release annually every year coinciding with holidays such as Easter and Halloween and must have imagined what they would be like if the priest fought demons with jokes, rode around on a Vespa, and was played by Russell Crowe putting on Italian accents and having fun with such schlock. The result is The Pope’s Exorcist, which once again sees the Overlord filmmaker interjecting history with supernatural forces and leaning into gruesomely edgier impulses (there is a death during the climax that comes close to being worth the price of admission alone).
Non-fiction is a relative term here, but it’s also worth noting that The Pope’s Exorcist is based on the Vatican’s chief exorcism conductor, Fr. Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe), based on his memoirs An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories, here specifically fixated on a case in 1987. As a result, screenwriters Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos (R. Dean McCreary, Chester Hastings, and Jeff Katz receive screen story credits) are placed into a tricky predicament where they clearly have to honor the life and memoirs of a real person (regardless of what is on those pages) but also ramp up the horror and bold personality of Gabriele. In other words, the filmmakers here are caught between having fun with this absurdity and treating certain aspects (guilt and fear come to mind) as serious.
Perhaps this would be less of an issue if the central family being terrorized by an unnamed demon (disturbingly and perversely voiced by Ralph Ineson during possessions) felt like real people in a real situation (especially considering much of this is supposedly based on memoirs and real cases) rather than a setting and characters cribbed from whatever exorcism movie you turn to your left and pull off your Blu-ray shelf right now.
They are recently widowed mom Julia (Alex Essoe), struggling to connect with teen daughter Amy (Laurel Marsden) and young Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney). The former is mad about moving to a gigantic home in Spain their father left behind (Julia plans to renovate and sell it and then move back to America to appease Amy), whereas the latter (in another overused cliché) hasn’t spoken a word in a year upon witnessing the death of his father while in the backseat of a tragically fatal car accident. Before the family can even get themselves situated, the workers have inadvertently unleashed a demonic presence that possesses Henry. Meanwhile, Gabriele teams up with a local priest (Daniel Zovatto) and occasionally receive wisdom and guidance from an unnamed pope (Franco Nero).
Julius Avery has two things going for him here: he has a genuine love for horror, at times paying homage to genre classics (a scene where one character is pulled from underneath and down into their bed brings to mind A Nightmare on Elm Street), and that when he is indulging in some more of the sub-genre clichés (the usual demonic insults, sinister carved body writing, upside down crosses, and crab-walking), it’s done so with competent craftsmanship and genuinely horrifying makeup effects. Still, the hook of Russell Crowe hamming it up performing exorcisms suffers from spending far too much time with these thinly-written characters. There’s a problem when an opening exorcism unrelated to the rest of the plot is far more entertaining than most of what follows.
The Pope’s Exorcist is certainly intriguing when diving into Gabriele’s soldier backstory and one particular sin he has improperly atoned for, but director Julius Avery never fully breaks free from playing things straight and jumping into the truly bonkers genre chaos from Overlord that immediately cemented him as a name to pay attention to in horror. Essentially, he took a bit too much inspiration from the above-mentioned generic exorcism nonsense, squandering his own zany concept. However, there are teasers of a sequel, and considering Russell Crowe knows exactly what kind of movie he is in, appropriately hamming it up, here’s hoping that the filmmakers can also get it right for the next exorcism.
Flickering Myth Rating– Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Checkherefor new reviews, follow myTwitterorLetterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
FAQs
"The Exorcist: Believer" is a pretty good movie that's so stuffed with characters and not-quite-developed ideas that you may come away from it thinking about what it could have been instead.
Is the movie The Pope's Exorcist worth watching? ›
The Pope's Exorcist is standard-issue holy horror in most respects, but its star's sanctified performance will be the answer to some viewers' prayers. The Pope's Exorcist may not be a classic, but it's still a solid possession thriller -- and Russell Crowe does a fantastic job in the leading role.
How accurate is the Pope's Exorcist? ›
The film's protagonist, Father Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe), is based on a real Catholic exorcist who was a founding member of the very organisation condemning the movie as inaccurate. So cinema-goers had fair warning that it would be far from uncontentious.
What does the Catholic Church say about the movie The Pope's Exorcist? ›
The letter goes on to state that the movie takes excessive liberties in adapting Father Amorth's memoirs and that Russell Crowe's appearance and demeanor do not match the human and priestly characteristics of Father Amorth.
Why did the new Exorcist movie get bad reviews? ›
"The Exorcist: Believer" seeks to follow up on the 1973 classic. Unfortunately, David Gordon Green and co. ultimately turn in a lackluster effort that has a few intriguing ideas, but is unable to overcome a bad script, flawed story, and hokey effects.
Why is The Exorcist so disturbing? ›
People were unprepared for the graphic imagery — the manipulations and helplessness of a Devil-possessed human body, the profanity coming out of the mouth of a child, the violence, and the broken-limbed scuttling spider walk. All of these things were new and truly shocking to people at the time.
Should Christians watch the Pope's Exorcist? ›
Like most exorcism films, it exploits Christian and Catholic imagery in a way that neither meaningfully depicts it but just uses it as set dressing for supernatural mythology. Characters discuss God, confession, and temptation, and yet it doesn't feel like more than acting in a movie.
What is the rating of The Pope's Exorcist? ›
What is the name of the demon in The Pope's Exorcist? ›
Asmodeus, the Prince of Demons, poses a significant threat to Father Amorth in "The Pope's Exorcist," testing his faith and forcing him to confront uncomfortable truths about the Catholic Church.
Will there be Pope's exorcist 2? ›
With the immense popularity of The Pope's Exorcist, a second installment in the film series has officially been announced by its creators.
Gabriele Amorth S.S.P. (Italian: [ɡabriˈɛːle ˈaːmort]; 1 May 1925 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian Catholic priest of the Paulines and an exorcist for the Diocese of Rome. Amorth, along with five other priests, founded the International Association of Exorcists. S.S.P.
Where was Pope's exorcist filmed? ›
Principal photography took place from August to October 2022 in Dublin and Limerick, Ireland and Rome, Italy. Scenes were also filmed with Crowe in Trinity College in Dublin.
Can a Catholic watch The Exorcist? ›
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Film and Broadcasting (USCCB-OFB) officially and publicly condemned the film as being unsuitable for a wide audience, but reviews produced for the office by priests and lay Catholics and correspondence between the Vatican and the USCCB-OFB show that the church ...
Does the Pope's Exorcist have a happy ending? ›
Amorth tries his damndest to stop the demon from taking over his body, but it ain't looking too good! He goes back to the catacombs to destroy himself and the demon, putting an end to its tyrannical reign forever.
How much did the Pope's Exorcist cost to make? ›
Russell Crowe's latest blockbuster The Pope's Exorcist has been a huge commercial hit. The budget for the movie was $18million, and it has since made a whopping $54million at the box office since it was released in cinemas earlier this month.
Is The Exorcist series worth watching? ›
Compelling characters and an intriguing story make The Exorcist a series worth watching. Content collapsed. A worthy and glorious ending to the Regan & Pazuzu storyline, and that was just a plus Something of a breath of fresh air in the "supernatural" horror genre.
How scary is The Exorcist in 2023? ›
It's filled with shocking and unsettling moments that will leave you with goosebumps. The jump scares are a bit to predictable yet a few had me skip a heartbeat for a minute. If you enjoy supernatural horror and don't mind being scared out of your wits, The Exorcist is your type of movie.
Is The Exorcist a good movie to watch? ›
A horror classic, but keep it away from kids!
Any parent should keep this movie away from kids. It may be a classic, but it's a mature classic. This movie is very complex when it comes to religion, but also incredibly scary to some people to this day.
Is The Exorcist still the scariest movie of all time? ›
So yes, it is still terrifying, and not for the puke-y parts. In fact, in some ways, it's scary in spite of all that. What's really horrifying, and this is true of both the book and the film, is the unsettling feeling that this could happen to you. And 50 years after its release, it still feels that way.
