'The Pope's Exorcist' Review: Russell Crowe fights the demons in this mildly underwhelming horror film
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: It genuinely came as a shock to learn that the Vatican has an official position of a Chief Exorcist for the Diocese of Rome and a man named Father Gabriele Amorth held that position for a very, very long time. He was a fan of the movie ‘The Exorcist’ because it told the world what his job actually was. But he didn’t stop there, he wrote a lot of books that were drawn from his experiences over 30 years and turned out to be bestsellers. Now, they have been adapted to a film titled ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ which stars veteran actor Russell Crowe in the lead role.
Early sequences of ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ depict some promising insight into Amorth’s background. The movie starts with a very unsettling scene in Rome, Italy, where a guy has been possessed by a demon and is tied to the bed. Father Gabriele Amorth (Crowe) has been called up to end the case and push the devil out of the boy. Amorth is a very unique character who talks too much and uses his humor in some of the worst places. But that’s what he is and no one can question the dedication he has toward his work. So, he enters the room and manages to get the demon out of the boy by challenging him to show if he can transfer his soul to a pig. The devil accepts the challenge and leaves the boy’s body to enter the pig’s body. As soon as this happens, one of the guys launches a bullet into the pig’s head and neutralizes the situation. On the other hand, Julia (Alex Essoe) is a widow and left the US to start a new life in Spain with her two children, Henry (Peter DeSouza –Feighoney) and his teenage sister, Amy (Laurel Marsden).
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What is 'The Pope's Exorcist' about?
Their new home is supposed to be an old church abbey in Castile, which belonged to her husband’s ancestors, and trust us, it has a “haunted house” written all over it. I mean, if the well in the front area of the house has a Vatican seal over it, then we don’t need to say anything else. It doesn’t take much time for them to realize that a demon has unleashed itself and possessed the little boy named Henry. The demon says, “Bring me the priest.” The family calls a priest, but the demon discards him because he wanted to meet the biggest of them all, Father Gabriele Amorth. The Pope orders Amorth to travel to Spain and take a look at this case. As soon as he reaches there, he realizes that this is the toughest demon he has ever faced because the demon knows all the tactics to dodge his questions.
Now, we won’t spoil the entire plot for you, but the conversation between Father Amorth and the Demon is one of the best parts of the movie. It shows how dangerous Amorth’s job actually was and what kind of dangerous situations he was putting himself into. With that being said, the story could have been a little heavy and some scenes felt like they were too rushed. They could have shown some more of Amorth’s work in the run and even if it was over 2 hours, viewers would have watched the film with keen eyes. Also, let’s be very clear: this is not an outright horror movie. Yes, it has some thrills and chills, but it focuses more on Father Amorth rather than the demon.
Russell Crowe embodies Father Amorth 'perfectly'
As far as acting is concerned, Russell Crowe is the soul of the movie and has done a phenomenal job of showing what Father Gabriele Amorth would have looked like while working on such cases. He never panicked, lost his concentration, and always made jokes while doing his work. Crowe is a class act and he carries the entire movie on his shoulders. Daniel Zovatto as Amorth’s accomplice gives another perspective on the story. He knows nothing about exorcisms because nothing of this sort has ever been brought to him. So, he is nervous, and also quite scared of being dead. Zovatto bring out all the above-mentioned emotions precisely and gives a commendable performance.
Peter DeSouza-Feighoney as Henry is excellent and you get genuinely scared by him even though he is just a 12-year-old kid. On the other hand, Alex Essoe and Laurel Marsden are brilliant in their respective roles.
The film is directed by Aussie filmmaker Julius Avery who recently directed a superhero movie ‘Samaritan’ with Sylvester Stallone. Avery wanted to show his versatility and that’s why he chose to direct a horror/thriller movie, which could have been better if things were not rushed.
Is 'The Pope's Exorcist' worth watching?
All in all, ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ is a decent watch that could have been taken to a whole new level if some things were shown in a detailed manner. The movie works because it touches all the themes of a classic horror movie, but Hollywood clichés win out by the end. Viewers will have fun at the cinemas because of a gripping performance given by Crowe, other than that, they will continue to notice how similar those scenes are to some of their favorite horror movies.
*** stars for ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’.
‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ is scheduled to release in the US on April 14, 2023.