The Pope’s Exorcist (2023): 1/5 “A Missed Opportunity”

For the Uncensored!

The unlikely belief in the devil, in any art, is that it’s not that we don’t believe, it’s the confirmation of belief that there is a devil at all. To see or watch a film about possession, relates more to With Sony Pictures The Pope’s Exorcist, directed by Julius Avery, the premise, itself, is an entirely fascinating subject. Russel Crowe stars as Father Gabriel Amorth, a chief exorcist of the Vatican Church, who is lured into an exorcism in Castille Spain, on a mysterious property. This demon leads priests into his clutches in order to infect the Church, but there are a few problems that come with this movie.

            There are two problems that exhibit the Pope’s Exorcist. The trailer itself gives the entire movie away. It would have been an amazing film if they had literally shown none of the spoiler heavy moments. For many in film school, the less seen is a trailer is in an extra ass in the seat. It’s film death to see the entire film on a trailer. It’s like exposing the plot to the Crying Game, as you find out that the woman the main character is in love with is a man he knew back in the day. The connection is that I saw the entire film in the film trailer with a few key details taken out.

            Which to me, makes the film less scary, for me, as a movie goer and writer. Because nothing in the world makes a person not watch a movie is to know what the entire film is about. As I detailed it in the paragraph, it makes me mad, because the premise of a horror film is the unknown, not the known aspects of evil.

            Another is execution. There could have been a great story in the film, but the thing is, it didn’t want to explore any meaningful character development for Father Gabriel Amorth. Father Amorth, a man who in his entire Vatican history, has completed 200 exorcisms, is not given a large scene into his troubled history. Yes, even Father Amorth, was once a resistance fighter, is haunted with survivors guilt, about living through the war, as the demon also harps on how he failed to exorcise a girl, who he claimed was mentally ill.

            If they had devoted fifteen minutes into this premise, it might have made the film more meaningful, as it runs through it, with little flashes, but no conviction. For a movie that’s supposed to scare me, it has small moments, but those small moments don’t forgive a slow execution. And if I was blaring Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast” after I watched this movie, this proves how scared I was. Which was not at all.

            The only good thing about the Pope’s Exorcist is Russel Crowe. Russel Crowe somehow manages to fail, but he does it with zest, flavor, and humor that makes the Pope’s Exorcist salvageable, as a horror film. Russel Crowe still manages to have fun even if the film doesn’t work.

            Pros:

            Great Premise

            Russel Crowe is always a plus

            Cons:

            Terrible Execution

            The trailer gives away many fine points

            Final Analysis: 1/5