“The Pope’s Exorcist” sounds like a title you’d see on a Redbox kiosk around the time of a new “Exorcist” movie (indeed, that saga’s sixth film is slated for later this year) in order to land some accidental rentals. But actually it’s a high-cost, good-production-value film in which Russell Crowe perhaps finds a saga-long hero he can sink his teeth into.
A holy hero
Crowe plays the titular Gabriele Amorth, a real-life Vatican exorcist who wrote two books on his cases, which the film twice tells us are good. Gabe is like an action hero without this being an action film, as his dialog leans edgy by priest standards. He carries a flask (which doesn’t contain holy water) and says things like “Holy sh**” if the situation warrants. (As we know from “Alien 3,” “sh**” isn’t a word against God.)
Shot in Ireland a Italy, “The Pope’s Exorcist” boasts honey-gold hues as cinematographer Khalid Mohtaseb lenses candles in churches and lights in cities. The non-actor star is the central location of director Julius Avery’s film: an abbey in rural Spain. It’s crumbling, but American Julie (Alex Essoe) has inherited it and is having it fixed up by a construction crew – until a horrific accident drives them off.
“The Pope’s Exorcist” (2023)
Director: Julius Avery
Writers: Michael Petroni, Evan Spiliotopoulos (screenplay); R. Dean McCreary, Chester Hastings, Jeff Katz (story); Gabriele Amorth (books)
Stars: Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto, Alex Essoe
The ancient real estate is Julie’s only source of potential income in 1987 as she raises teen Amy (Laurel Marsden) and younger nonverbal child Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney and the voice of Ralph Ineson), both of whom listen to their headphones more than their mom.
Henry gets possessed in his bed in the traditional exorcism-film style. The conversations between the priests and the devil kid are of course the backbone of the film. They don’t break new ground, but nor are they embarrassing.
Digging into the lore
When Gabe and his lieutenant, Father Tomas Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto), explore the abbey’s grounds and underground recesses, “Pope’s Exorcist” finds its groove in exploring (literally) buried religious lore. We get a fascinating revelation about the Catholic Church’s decisions amid the Spanish Inquisition.
Gabe and Tomas have the typical relationship between a veteran and amateur exorcist, but with more depth than average. We get to know their sins and regrets. They hear each other’s confessions and do the Christian rituals in a straightforward manner that – to this atheist viewer — seems accurate to the religion.
In adapting the real Amorth’s books, the team of five writers teases out these evocative historical elements and character beats, but they stop short of making “Pope’s Exorcist” too edgy. Perhaps trying to be faithful to the true events, it’s an oddly cautious film. It passes on the opportunity for a laugh-scare balance in the vein of TV’s “Evil.” Crowe’s Amorth is cool for an exorcist, but the film doesn’t go full-bore down that path.
The threats are often CGI, and — while it’s good CGI – the finale doesn’t play as well as the evocatively lensed mood leading up to it. This might’ve been a great practical-effects showcase were it made in 1987 rather than merely being set in 1987.
An epilog sets up “The Pope’s Exorcist” as a potential series. If so, Gabe could be a fun character for Crowe to return to. I wasn’t completely converted by the first installment, but I’d be more likely to come back for another go-around than to go to church, at least.