The Pope’s Exorcist tells the sensationalized and amalgamized tale of the true events of the real-life Father Gabriel Amorth.

The Pope’s Exorcist

The film’s premise is that in the late 80s, a recently widowed American, her teenage daughter, and young son move to Spain to oversee the restoration and eventual sale of the only asset of value left to them by their recently deceased husband and father, a 400-year-old Catholic abbey. Not long after their arrival, the boy, Henry, played by Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, stumbles upon the crumbling seal that had jailed the demon Asmodeus (aka the King of Hell) for hundreds of years. True to its nature, the fallen angel takes over the boy. After modern medicine finds no satisfactory answer, the family turnes to Father Gabriel Amorth, The Pope’s Exorcist, for help.

Starring Russell Crowe in the titular role, The Pope’s Exorcist brings little new to the sub-genre of possession horror, if you’ve seen the original Exocist, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Blade (for a single effect), you’ve seen every horror beat that this movie has to offer. More so, the entire first act feels like you’ve been transported back to the 80s to watch this film. The camera angles, the pacing, the sets, and even the score all feel as though they took an 88mph trip in a Delorean to today’s cinema. That’s not to say that The Pope’s Exorcist isn’t good.

With a couple of exceptions, the effects are high quality and effective in illiciting the fear that the movie is going for, but the single most differentiating factor for this flick is Russell Crowe. Crowe is an excellent actor with a somewhat inconsistent track record. For every Thor: Love and Thunder knotched into his belt, he has a Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. However, in The Pope’s Exocist, his Father Gabriel Amorth, is engaging, ernest, and possesses dimension. Furthermore, his stalwart faith and intelligence sets him apart from virtually every other priest in one of these movies.

His faith isn’t treated like an outdated anacronism, and actually the film clearly criticizes those in the church who look at it that way, treating evil as “just a state of mind,” rather than true and tangible. As a matter of fact, Christian Faith is the star of this film. Unlike, in the Exorcist, in which a priest whose faith is in doubt due to his intelligent and scientific mind, Father Gabriel’s faith is unwavering. What’s more, is that he isn’t treated like a cartoon character whose faith was discovered at the bottom of a box of Lucky Charms.

The rest of the cast is serivicable, if contrived. Although, Daniel Zobatto, who plays Father Esquibel stands brightest among them. Unlike the disposably generic family that is the demon’s initial target, Father Esquibel is a 3-dimensional character with a moderatly interesting arc. Moreover, he ends up being an excellent adjunct to Father Gabriel.

With generally good pacing (for both acts 2 & 3) and performances by its two leads, as well as an unashamed view of Faith, The Pope’s Exorcist manages to mostly trancend its rather prosaic horror movie beats. That being said, if you are not a person of faith, I doubt that this movie will hold much interest for you. Much of what makes it scary is that Father Gabriel is real, and that this is loosley based on his experiences.

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