Pope’s Exorcist review: Russell Crowe horror movie rules, bring on sequels

It is rare to find a horror film that understands how ridiculous it needs to be. The Pope’s ExorcistAbsolutely rules. It’s true that the film where Russell Crowe is an Italian priest who works directly for the Pope himself, and reports to him on a daily basis, is great. A silly movie that’s Actually Good (versus Ironically Fun) is awfully hard to find, so when Crowe’s character saves the day and then is told that there are 199 other exorcisms for him to perform to save the world, I lit up. Every possession should have its own movie.

A teaser for sequels or a wider universe of demons that threaten the world smacks of franchises and big IP. However, for The Pope’s Exorcist, it feels more like the light world-building of the John Wick franchise, constantly expanding its borders and letting you know that there’s more out there than our hero encountered this time around. And in the case of Crowe’s Father Gabriele Amorth, the things he’ll encounter just happen to be servants of Satan and denizens of hell sent to fight God and make the world a slightly more evil place.

Father Amorth handles the Catholic Church’s most difficult cases. Father Amorth’s character is presented as a very rational, careful person. He often recommends that the supposed victims of possession he sees receive psychological help, and not an actual exorcism.

So when Amorth finds himself faced with the most powerful demon he’s ever seen at a run-down former abbey in Spain, it comes as a massive surprise. Amorth’s shock, and the exorcism’s importance, only grows when he stumbles upon a massive satanic conspiracy that’s been hidden for hundreds of years and could threaten the entire world — an objectively awesome plot twist that would make any movie better. Each of the movie’s reveals feels like a natural — and suitably dopey — next stop for the story, or a little bit of color for the world that the movie doesn’t belabor the explanation of.

Jonathan Hession/Sony Pictures

It’s only possible because Julius Avery enjoys the silliness. The exorcism genre has gotten stale in the last few years — take the last Conjuring film, for example — but The Pope’s Exorcist Playfully rips plot lines from The Exorcist, its sequels, and the classic. There are a couple of nice shout-outs for the lesser known Dominion: A Prequel to The Exorcist Father Amorth, who is extremely confident about his faith and does not use the tropes of men of the cloth questioning God as other shows do. Both in front of his peers at the Vatican, who question an exorcism gone wrong, or in front of the literal king of hell, Father Amorth is absolutely convinced that God will see him through, whether it’s through the faith of his conviction or precise knowledge of the right prayer for any demon-fighting situation.

Surprise! The Pope’s ExorcistThe film is very well-made, and Avery’s creative setups and shots are always on point. He has turned other B-movie materials into fun, entertaining films. (See: 2018’s Overlord.) Crowe’s Italian accent is full on prosciutto. The scares and the inventiveness are great. And by the time the demons really arrive, they look and sound great — the latter thanks to the reliable, gravelly voice of Green Knight’s Ralph Ineson.

The Pope’s The Exorcist doesn’t match the bone-deep terror or filmmaking heights of the original Exorcist, but sets itself apart by building the whole movie on an understanding that its whole premise is a little silly — and it’s never afraid to lean into that fact, like when Amorth reminds a jury of Vatican peers that if they have a problem with him they can take it up with his boss (the pope). It’s well made and takes its scary moments seriously, but approaches every scene as an opportunity to let the audience have fun, either through scares or jokes. The movie fits in perfectly with the intelligent, joke-filled horror films like M3GAN You can also find out more about the following: BarbarianThis is an excellent change from the tired and stale exorcism genre. Father Amorth is still left with 199 exorcisms to complete, but I feel that a series for each of them would be a welcome change.

The Pope’s ExorcistThe movie is now available in the theaters, and it’s destined to be Netflix’s No. In a couple of months, it will be the No.