THE POPE'S EXORCIST Spoiler Review (2024)

Major spoilers ahead for The Pope’s Exorcist. You’ve been warned.

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When it comes to religious horror flicks – more specifically, those about demonic possession – there are two categories. There’s The Exorcist (1973) and then there’s everything else. But as a huge fan of the genre, I’m always drawn to these stories even though I know that they won’t even come close to William Friedkin’s and William Peter Blatty’s masterpiece of ultimate terror.

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But Hollywood keeps trying to get back there, to that place where cinematic art coincides with massive commercial success. Enter the latest contender, The Pope’s Exorcist – which has the distinction of being based on the late Father Gabriele Amorth, who was the Vatican’s chief exorcist (and interestingly, also the subject of a documentary by William Friedkin in 2017’s The Devil and Father Amorth).

This flick isn’t based on a real case, though. It just takes the persona of Father Amorth (Russell Crowe) and places him in this fantastical tale, which begins with an exorcism – or so it seems. A man’s (River Hawkins) family pleads for help, citing his condition, which has to be demonic possession, right? But once Amorth shows up and gives the dude the once-over, he knows what’s up.

The poor guy isn’t really possessed – but he thinks he is, and so Amorth deftly solves the problem by treating him like a possessed person. Amorth coolly challenges “Satan” to a show of power by possessing a pig they just happen to have handy (a reference to the exorcism that Jesus performed on a possessed man by sending the demons into a herd of swine). Some more screaming and writhing, and bam, the “demon’s” inside the pig, which they then shoot for an extra dramatic finish. Pretty nuts, right? But it cures the guy’s condition.

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Then we get more of an idea of what the famous Father Amorth was like: a Vespa-riding, double espresso-shooting jokester who enjoyed flirting with nuns and annoying his superiors. He shows up to a meeting with several bishops and cardinals who take him to task for the fake exorcism with the pig. When they rake him over the coals for doing such things without permission, Amorth explains that the man wasn’t possessed.

Mental illness was what plagued him – but to help him recover from whatever was overwhelming him, “a little theater” was necessary. Amorth tells one particularly shouty cardinal (Ryan O’Grady) that if they have a problem with him, they should talk to his boss – the Pope. Then Amorth leaves without any more explanation, and even more infuriatingly – without their permission.

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Cut to the next case. In tried-and-true horror fashion, it begins with a family arriving at their new home – or in this instance, a very, very old one. Single mom Julia (Alex Essoe), sulky teen daughter Amy (Laurel Marsden) and traumatized, non-verbal son Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) show up at an abbey in Spain, left to them by Julia’s deceased husband, who died in a car accident. The place is practically in ruins but it’s all they have left to their names. So Julia’s started the process of renovating, having already hired a crew to start working on the place, in the hopes of flipping it.

It isn’t long before the weirdness starts. Some of the construction crew find a chamber hidden behind a wall – and when they stupidly use a flare as a light source, the chamber explodes from the gas trapped inside – sulfur, to be exact – or brimstone, to use the Biblical term.

After that, the construction guys quit, leaving Julia and the kids stuck there. And by the time this happens, Henry has already become possessed. Not sure exactly how as it’s never shown. But pretty soon Henry starts going through the requisite changes in appearance and behavior – even talking. But he’s definitely not talking like a kid anymore. He has a creepy new voice (provided by the awesome Ralph Ineson), and a whole new, foul vocabulary.

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Possessed Henry demands that Julia “bring him the priest,” so Julia asks for help from the local priest, Father Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto), a kind young man, but who’s also obviously pretty green. Esquibel does his best to interview Henry but ends up getting force-thrown into a wall for his trouble with Henry shouting, “Wrong f**king priest!”

So then the request for help somehow finds its way to the Pope (Franco Nero), who tasks Father Amorth with investigating the case and determining whether or not Henry is really possessed. Well, of course, Henry’s really possessed. There wouldn’t be a movie if he wasn’t. He passes the test of preternatural knowledge – knowing the sins of both Amorth and Esquibel, like the fact that Amorth basically let a girl die after refusing to help her and that Esquibel broke his vow of celibacy on more than one occasion.

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But the real story aside from the possession is what lies beneath the abbey. Amorth and Esquibel soon discover that the place was a sort of headquarters for the Spanish Inquisition (which nobody ever expects). By going through a bunch of ancient books and scrolls and that kind of thing, both Amorth and the Pope on his end, discover that the Inquisition was all basically the work of Satan and the other fallen angels, who infiltrated the Church and committed the horrific atrocities the Inquisition became known for.

Amorth and Esquibel realize that the abbey’s underbelly is also a portal for evil to come through into the world. The only way they can destroy it is to exorcise the demon from Henry, whom they soon learn is Asmodeus – one of the princes of Hell, according to Judeo-Islamic lore.

So then comes the exorcism, which checks all the boxes and has all the overblown drama we’ve all come to expect. Amorth bravely offers himself up to Asmodeus in order to save Henry, and then it’s up to Esquibel to put on his big-boy collar, put his Latin and his crucifix to good use and rescue Amorth from the demon. He does, and after the evil portal’s destroyed and all is well again, Amorth and Esquibel go back to Rome, where they receive thanks and commendations from the Pope.

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Then one of Amorth’s colleagues, Bishop Lumumba (Cornell John) shows them the Vatican’s latest and greatest thing, an underground lair full of the latest tech and the oldest texts. Turns out the portal Amorth and Esquibel destroyed is only one of many. There are 199 more of them to be exact, one for each fallen angel, located all over the world.

The bishop asks Amorth to continue this new quest, to find and destroy the remaining portals. But Amorth is only willing to do it if Esquibel will help him, as he admits to basically getting too old for this sh*t. And of course, Esquibel is totally up for the challenge, having found his true vocation. And then in a really rushed sort of way, we find out via text overlay that Henry, Julia and Amy all safely returned to the US and all’s well.

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The Pope’s Exorcist is a weird blend of a flick. There’s the possession story, the mythology/conspiracy story, the character study of Father Amorth and the sort-of buddy-cop thing going on with Esquibel. Russell Crowe is without a doubt the strong tie that holds it all together.

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His portrayal of Amorth walks a very fine line between humor and caricature, and I suppose depending on how you feel after watching the flick, you’ll decide for yourself if he succeeded or not. Personally, I found Crowe’s performance to be disarmingly funny while at the same time being serious enough to carry the rest of the story.

Daniel Zovatto’s Esquibel is also a real highlight. He supports Crowe without competing with him and makes his own performance relatable and sympathetic – which makes the possibility of a sequel much more appealing. Clearly, Sony’s hoping for The Pope’s Exorcist to be the beginning of a Conjuring-like franchise, where they can spin out more stories of Catholic superheroes Amorth and Esquibel vanquishing evil, and make millions.

And though I wouldn’t call the flick entirely successful or even that scary – I have to say, I kind of like the idea of a sequel. My only hope would be that now that they’ve established Amorth’s character, they concentrate on making any future stories genuinely frightening. Because only then will they have reached that lofty bar set 50 years ago by a story that still terrifies us to this day.

Directed by: Julius Avery

Written by: Michael Petroni, Evan Spiliotopoulos

Release Date: April 14, 2023

Rating: R

Run Time: 1 hr 43 min

Distributor: Sony Pictures/Screen Gems

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