The Pope’s Exorcist – Russell Crowe Understood The Assignment

For as long as the horror genre has existed, there has been exorcism tales, a lot of exorcism tales. 1973’s The Exorcist continues to be the gold standard when it comes to the horror subgenre but that hasn’t stopped countless other films, and even television series, from tackling roughly the same general type of story. Regardless of the virtual identical nature of all the efforts in recent memory, studios keep tapping into that well to find enough for success to justify going back time after time whenever an exorcism film or television series is needed. Now when it comes to The Pope’s Exorcist, this film is essentially no different, bringing plenty of silliness and predictability to the table and very few in the way of scares. More or less turning to the greatest hits in terms of scares, they arguably don’t hit as strongly after experiencing them so many times. Nevertheless, this film still finds some entertainment in spite of its familiarity by dressing it up as a thriller to attempt to ground it with something more. Meanwhile, star Russell Crowe definitely understood the assignment with the kind of energy and delivery that made it all at least bearable which is admittedly a low bar.

The Pope’s Exorcist has a story that is pretty self-explanatory as it followed Father Gabriele Amorth (Crowe), the Vatican’s leading exorcist, appointed by the Pope (Franco Nero). A part of the previous generation, he and his methods perhaps rubbed members of the newer generation of the Catholic church the wrong way as they looked to move away from the traditions of the past. While rough around the edges, his approach was unorthodox but effective. Most of the cases he tended to did not require an exorcism, however, his latest case was different. Tasked by the pope, his latest case involved a possessed boy named Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) who traveled from America to Spain along with his single mother Julia (Essoe) and his rebellious teenage sister Amy (Laurel Marsden) to take possession of an old abbey left to them after Henry’s father and Julia’s husband died in a car accident where Henry also present. Since then, the trauma from that accident Henry had yet to speak. After a series of strange occurrences in and around the abbey, it was only a matter of time until something happened and that proved to be the possession of the vulnerable and innocent Henry by a mysterious demon.

Simply dismissing the local priest, Father Esquibel (Zovatto), it was clear that there was something more going on when the demon wanted Father Amorth and it soon got him. From there, Amorth and the inexperienced Esquibel became a team, developing a fun dynamic. That being said, their first attempts failed as the demon was far more powerful than they anticipated, testing them both physically and mentally. In order to save Henry, it would take an effort from everyone which meant the family had to believe and the priests needed to be upfront with one another about their sins for which they had many. Ultimately, the key to thwarting the demon’s plan was to discover the demon’s true name to strip away from its power. However, that investigation saw some twists and turns as Amorth and Esquibel also uncovered some harsh truths about the church and its connection to the demon. At the end of the day, what started with Amroth was going to end with Amroth as this case was a means to absolve himself from his past since and defend the institution that he had dedicated his life to. Unsurprisingly, the adventures of Amorth and Esquibel may not end here of course depending on the success of this film.

The best part of The Pope’s Exorcist is the aforementioned Crowe as the titular exorcist. This blurred tale of good versus evil is a silly one for sure but Crowe brings the right energy and fits right into the silliness. Though many may call it camp or over-the-top, it makes him fun to watch and somewhat memorable. He has the gravitas and also gets to show a softer side to mask Amorth’s troubled past that the film barely hints at. Crowe’s chemistry with Zovatto’s Esquibel made for a fun dynamic highlighted by the contrast of experience between both characters. Essoe, Feighoney, and Marsden as the family characters were fine and were merely a means to an end.

Overall, The Pope’s Exorcist appears to be more of the same on the surface, and is for the most part, but Crowe keeps it above water.

still courtesy of Screen Gems

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.