The Pope’s Exorcist Review

The Pope’s Exorcist is a supernatural horror film based on the supposedly true story of Father Gabriele Amorth.

Father Gabriele (Russell Crowe) is a priest who specialises in exorcisms and reports directly to the Pope (Franco Nero). In 1987, Amorth is ordered to go to Spain where an American boy, Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) has been possessed by a demon. Amorth must deal with a dark secret as well as a minion of Satan when performing this exorcism.

Every exorcism film faces an uphill challenge since they’re competing with The Exorcist. The Exorcist did not just set the gold standard for exorcism films, it’s considered one of the greatest horror films ever made. The Pope’s Exorcist was nowhere near that standard.

The Pope’s Exorcist was a cliched-ridden film that made it tiring for experienced viewers. It covers the usual bases for this type of film. There was a discussion on whether the victim was really processed or suffering from a physical or mental illness. There was a child who spoke with a demonic voice and did the shocking act of swearing. It felt a lot like last year’s Pray for the Devil, which was also a generic exorcist film. At least Prey for the Devil understood that it needed to characterise its possessed victim and make them sympathetic.

Another way The Pope’s Exorcist unintentionally copied Prey for the Devil was by showing some of the characters having to battle their personal demons as well as the literal minions of Satan. The demon taunted the priests with knowledge of their sins and haunted them with visions of women they knew. The aim was to give Father Gabriele and Father Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto) some characterisation and backstory, but it did provide the film with some T’n’A.

The Pope’s Exorcist didn’t just have exorcism film cliches, there were also broader horror cliches. It was a film that was filled with jump scares and loud noises, and had a creepy, weird child. It was basic stuff from a Hollywood horror film. The Pope’s Exorcist also had the old chestnut of a family dealing with collective trauma and the daughter, Amy (Laurel Mardsen) was a troubled teen who smoked and insulted her younger brother.

The Pope’s Exorcist was at its most fun when it became a gore fest. The gore was unintentionally funny since it was out of place and over-the-top, especially when one person exploded like they were in the first Blade film. A character vomited out blood which was also entertaining for the wrong reasons.

The Pope’s Exorcist did try to spice things up by having a conspiracy involving the church’s past. The writers and filmmakers were trying to give The Pope’s Exorcist a bit more substance. It made The Pope’s Exorcist stand out since it wasn’t just about getting a demon out of someone. However, the church’s deep dark secret was silly.

There were also some casting issues. It was strange to see an actor with Russell Crowe’s reputation lead a horror film, especially a horror film like this. It was even more striking that Crowe, who has had trouble performing with accents was allowed to perform with a dodgy Italian accent. Despite this, there was some humanity in Crowe’s performance since his character had a sense of humour and tried to defuse situations with a joke. For a film that was set in the 1980s, it was noticeable that the Pope was Italian instead of Polish like the real John Paul II, one of the famous Popes. Finally, within the Vatican, Father Gabriele’s most ardent opponent was an American Cardinal and he seemed very young for someone to be a senior cardinal. But these were minor issues in the grand scheme of things.

The Pope’s Exorcist was a divertive horror offering that felt like it was following a checklist of tropes. The few new things that The Pope’s Exorcist did offer made it into an intentional comedy.