The Pope’s Exorcist – Movie Review

Director: Julius Avery

Writer: Michael Petroni, Evan Spiliotopoulos (Screenplay)

Writer: Gabriele Amorth (Books)

Cast

• Russell Crowe (Gladiator)
• Daniel Zovatto (Station Eleven)
• Alex Essoe (Starry Eyes)
• Franco Nero (John Wick Chapter 2)
• Peter DeSouza-Feighoney

Plot: Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, The Pope’s Exorcist follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy’s terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.

Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Pope’s Exorcist starts when Father Gabriel Amorth (Crowe) gets sent to Spain to help understand a potential exorcism. Julia (Essoe) has moved to an abbey with her children Henry (DeSouza-Feighoney) and Amy (Marsden).

When Henry gets possessed, Gabriel must explore the history of the abbey. As Gabriel learns more, he comes up against one of his deadliest enemies to date.

Verdict on The Pope’s Exorcist

The Pope’s Exorcist is a horror thriller following the chief exorcist of the Vatican investigating one of his most dangerous cases. He must travel to an abbey that has seen a member of the family possessed by an unknown demon.

This is just the first of what could be many stories about Father Gabriel Amorth. The movie gets to show how everything dealing about dealing with an exorcism happens. While nothing feels overly fresh in the approach, it is hard to bring a new approach. However, the bigger picture is a lot more interesting, being the investigation gets underway.

When it comes to the pure horror moments, it does feel like we have a couple of solid scares, without being terrifying. The performances are good and it would be a welcome return to see Russell Crowe bring this character back to life. This could easily become another franchise horror, following in the footsteps of The Conjuring. By using real stories to create horror stories.

Final Thoughts – The Pope’s Exorcist is a good addition to the exorcism movies.