It is hard to look at any movie with “Exorcist” in its title and not immediately think of William Friedkin’s eternal 1973 Oscar-winning horror classic that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Nevertheless there have been dozens of films of various stripes that have tried to conjure their own magic in this sub-genre, but none that have managed to surpass what Friedkin and screenwriter William Peter Blatty did with that brilliant film.
Now though, with a bit of a twist we have a new entry, The Pope’s Exorcist, which is hoping to lure audiences with the promise of the story of an actual exorcist — and not just any run-of-the-mill demon slayer but rather Father Gabriele Amorth, who for 36 years plied his trade at the Vatican, rising to chief exorcist there in 1992 until his death in 2016. Along the way he wrote books, “good ones” as this film notes, An Exorcist Tells His Stories and An Exorcist: More Stories, that were acquired as the basis for the screenplay of the film that also had the good sense to cast Russell Crowe in a witty, colorful and determined portrait of Amorth, who shared many different aspects and stories of his “exorcisms.”
Lest you think this is a biopic with an emphasis on actual events, think again, or just stay until the end-credit roll is over to find out “this is a work of fiction” featuring characters with no resemblance to any living or dead person. In that way what the screenwriters and director Julius Avery have cooked up is a story more familiar in the horror genre focusing on the possession by the devil and subsequent exorcism of a young boy named Henry. But before we get to that we meet Amorth performing another exorcism, one that gets him in hot water (something he was used to) with a rigid Vatican council that questions his methods, especially the way he engages people with some mental illness or psychological problems by challenging the “devil inside them.” As is noted, 98% of these cases are generally referred by Amorth to medical professionals, but it is the 2% that stand out (and will make a box office hit, of course).
Cut to sunny Spain where we are introduced to what seems like a normal American family, but here arriving at an abandoned, decaying and remote abbey that Julia (Alex Essoe), a recent widow, has inherited from her late husband’s family estate. It is a fixer-upper to be sure and work has started to restore it when she arrives with son Henry (Peter DeSouza Feighoney) and difficult teen daughter Amy (Laurel Marsden), both not thrilled to have their lives upended by moving to an obscure and scary looking monstrosity like this in a foreign land. Soon it will get scarier as it appears this place has quite the past history and the demons inside it are going to be awakened.
When Henry exhibits signs of truly frightening behavior, a young priest, Father Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto) is sent to check it out. What he observes is past his pay grade and soon the Vatican actually sends Amorth, who arrives riding down the road on his motor scooter. In no time, despite initial skepticism, he becomes alarmed by what he witnesses and is now convinced this is the work of the devil, a 2%’er to be sure. In uncovering this it becomes much more complicated and Amorth, with the help of the young priest and support of the Pope (veteran Franco Nero) who gets more than he bargained for, finds a slippery slope to the past and deeply held secrets by the Church.
Unlike Friedkin’s The Exorcist, in which Max Von Sydow had to just exorcize demons from the head-spinning Linda Blair, this one deals with the phenomenon of multiple possessions, even all the way up to the Pope. Avery milks the action for all it is worth, and it is effectively made, taken on its own terms.
Crowe, giving us a sharp characterization of the unpredictable Amorth, is a godsend (sorry) for this movie, becoming the one genuine beacon of credibility in what is mostly a very Hollywoodized look at the subject matter. It made me want to seek out more on the actual Amorth, as well as a documentary in which he participated showing a real exorcism (you know, the kind where they don’t have a special effects team on call 24/7). As it is though I found this film entertaining enough and certainly accomplished, with fine cinematography from Khalid Mohtaseb and superb production design from Alan Gilmore.
Producers are Doug Belgrad, Michael Patrick Kaczmarek and Jeff Katz. Sony opens the Screen Gems production Friday only in theaters.
Title: The Pope’s Exorcist
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Release Date: April 14, 2023
Director: Julius Avery
Screenwriters: Michael Petroni, Evan Spiliotopoulos (screen story by R. Dean McCreary, Chester Hastings and Jeff Katz)
Cast: Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto, Alex Essoe, Franco Nero, Laurel Marsden, Peter DeSouza Feighoney, Carrie Munro
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hr 43 min