The Pope's Exorcist Review: Not Satan, the real Great Deceiver is this movie

In Julius Avery’s The Pope’s Exorcist, the titular Father Gabriel Amorth urges vigilance against the deceptions and trickery of the Devil, only to deceive its audience into believing that this film deserved a shot.

Julius Avery, an Australian director, has taken a new turn by diving headfirst into the world of holy horror with his latest film, which is touted as being based on the real-life Papal exorcist Gabriele Amorth, portrayed by none other than Russell Crowe.

Drawing inspiration from Amorth's literary works, Crowe portrays the rugged man of the cloth as aloof and even mischievous, bringing humour and charm to an otherwise uninspired script. The fact that he manages to sound even remotely credible with that Italian accent is an act of God in itself. Regardless of the subpar material he is presented with, Crowe's acting ability continues to shine through.

Moreover, it is not just Crowe's vocal inflection that impresses. His entire demeanour throughout this horror escapade is possibly the only saving grace for the film. Crowe's character swigs liquor and coffee at the most inopportune moments and zooms around on a comically tiny moped that appears dwarfed in comparison to the actor's large, cloaked frame. 

Like the vast majority of modern exorcism films, the picture adheres rigidly to William Friedkin's visionary classic, and as such, there is a glaring absence of originality or surprise, despite the copious (but ineffective) jump scares. This lack of ingenuity, both in the script and presentation, transforms the film into a tedious slog that Crowe can barely salvage. 

The story, along with its primary setting in an abandoned Spanish abbey, brings up events like the Spanish Inquisition and even mentions briefly the Catholic Church's history of sexual abuse accusations. Nonetheless, similar to writer Evan Spiliotopoulos's prior effort at religious horror with The Unholy (2021) these potentially controversial ideas are approached with almost-impressive haste, and the film presents them in a manner that is far too timid and precious to make the audience uncomfortable.

On the contrary, these moments of exposition add to the already oversaturated moments of levity that Crowe attempted to provide amid the supposed terrors of the film. By laying the onus of responsibility for the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition and the Church’s history of sex abuse on none other than the Devil himself, the film conveniently absolves its characters and the Catholic institution entirely of its sins - which was arguably the most uproariously entertaining segment in the story.

But who would have thought that Frank Nero's portrayal of the fictional Pope in the film would make for the most laughably pulpy scenes the film had to offer. The mere thought of witnessing the bedridden Holy Father spew projectile blood over his attendants a la Linda Blair, was enough to send us demonically convulsing in our seats in fits of laughter. 

The uninspired and formulaic plot fails to scare audiences, relying too heavily on jump scares and poor CGI. Additionally, the film attempts to address serious issues like sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, but does so in a clumsy and insensitive way that only adds to the overall unfocused and disjointed nature of the story. 

This heavy-handed approach for such a disposable film only serves to highlight the picture's unfocused and disjointed nature. The idea of it spawning an Exorcist Cinematic Universe is laughable (but also slightly terrifying considering how seriously it takes itself), and it serves as a reminder that the Conjuring era of mainstream horror cinema needs to come to a swift end.

We are going with 1 out of 5 stars for The Pope's Exorcist.

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