Review The Exorcist of the Pope – Review on FilmTotaal

Director: Julius Avery | Script: Michael Petroni, Evan Spiliotopoulos| Cast: Russell Crowe (Father Gabriel), Daniel Zovatto (Father Esquibel), Peter DeSouza-Feighoney (Henry), Franco Nero (The Pope), Alex Essoe (Julia), Laurel Marsden (Amy), ea | Time to play: 104 minutes | Year: 2023

Many horror movies with a supernatural plot begin with a line indicating that what you are about to see is based on a true event. Of course, you can always take that with a grain of salt, but it’s somehow boring that there are people who still take this kind of medieval superstition as truth. The Pope’s Exorcist it takes a much nicer approach by indicating that the main character is based on someone who actually exists. It immediately sets the tone for the movie – it’s not hard, just scary.

Julia is forced to move to Spain with her two children, Amy and Henry. The plan is to restore and sell a dilapidated abbey she inherited, but the property turns out to be a prison for a demon who is released again due to work and takes possession of her son Henry. The Vatican understands that this is a serious matter and sends its most skilled exorcist, Gabriel. But even for him it’s a challenging matchup.

You seem capable of laughing a lot with that Gabriel. He may be a saint, but somehow he’s also a confident cowboy. When he has a case with nothing paranormal involved, he puts on a show to temporarily help the patient and then refers him to a psychologist for further treatment. When a panel wants to fire him, he reminds them that he is the official and only exorcist personally hired by the Pope. You can’t mess with him.

Witty comments aren’t just in the introduction. Even in the second half of the movie, when Gabriel is in the middle of a vicious fight with the possessed Henry, there’s still room for a joke in between. The Pope’s Exorcist it’s a relief among all those movies you can’t laugh at without calling it comedy. It is absolutely terrifying.

Just not one that is very scary. He has a more adventurous feel, like Elf. Henry is soon possessed and it isn’t long before he recognizes himself and Gabriel is at the door. And then he asks an interesting question: why did the demon choose this child? This is the mystery that Gabriel and a Spanish colleague are trying to solve, as misery rears its ugly head at him from time to time and plays with memories they are ashamed of.

The ruined abbey is both haunting and picturesque, set in a forest near the coast. Some interiors also look like something out of a Guillermo del Toro movie. It’s not entirely clear why the construction workers leave because of a gas leak and the new residents are left without taking any action, but it doesn’t matter much because it’s fiction and it looks so beautiful.

know for a long time The Pope’s Exorcist keeping the clichés at bay, but still throws them all in for the climax. Limbs in impossible positions while listening to bones creak, a rattling bed, climbing up the wall and hanging from the ceiling, a spinning head, furniture flying across the room, and a stormy wind despite the windows being closed. Excess damage!

Before the hysteria breaks out, there is only the possessed Henry who speaks in a distorted voice reminiscent of an angry Smeagol. The physical development of him is original: the deeper the demon in him, the more he starts to look like someone who’s had bad plastic surgery. That sounds like it’s laughable, but it’s genuinely disturbing.

It’s not quite clear what exactly the underlying kernel should be. It talks about love and hate, Gabriel and the other priest are faced with a painful moment from their past that they have to overcome, and it also talks about their own will. But nothing builds to the point where it feels like the official theme. It adds a twist to a moment in history when the church has behaved inhumanely, by claiming it was not their fault, but Satan’s. Again, it is fiction.

Russell Crowe is a perfect casting choice. He takes the role seriously, but understands that the movie isn’t serious, so he can have fun with it. The actor has also performed on stage as a singer and guitarist and that rock star vibe fits this bad boy from the Vatican very well. It is his first horror film, and that can be called a worthy debut.