The Pope’s Exorcist (2023) Review

The Pope’s Exorcist wants you to know some things.

The story revolves around a young American widow and her two kids who have moved into her late husband’s property, a remote Spanish monastery.  Soon, the young son falls ill, and the local priest dials the Vatican with a case of demonic possession.

The Vatican’s #1 exorcist and a naive young priest will have to battle a powerful demon in the isolated abbey.

The plot spills out quite rapidly from there, but along the way, the movie wants to make sure you know the essential things.

Thing 1: Exorcisms Are Rare

Contemporary exorcism movies don’t just need character development and dramatic story arcs. They also may require an apologetic reset and context setting. The Pope’s Exorcist suggests that the Catholic Church’s historic transgressions have a singular cause: the Devil made them do it.

Maybe that explains how so many remote cinematic abbeys and nunneries are conveniently located directly over the bowels of hell.

Some well-constructed early scenes fill us in on the new exorcism landscape. Very few cases referred to the church end in exorcism. Usually, the exorcist directs the afflicted party to psychological help.

Thing 2: Some in the church regret all the sexual abuse

Both priests need to confess their sins or maybe just regrets before facing the demon that has turned a bony third-grader into a brutal monster. The film glancingly addresses sexual abuse, and only in cases regarding young women.

Thing 3: This Takes Place in the Eighties!

Even though the action takes place in an ancient church property in the middle of the forest, it’s still happening in the 1980s. The time setting is constantly reinforced by the two kids wearing spindly little headphones while listening to their cassette Sony Walk Mans. Scenes start with each listening to the big songs from acts like The Cult, Violent Femmes, Faith No More, and even Australia’s The Saints.

The Pope’s Exorcist is a cut above its genre in some ways but doesn’t quite rise to the level of art. Sometimes it gets trapped by conventions, like climbing the wall like a spider scene. It is a well-constructed but commercial film made to please mainstream adult audiences wading into the horror genre.

The cast is a strong point. Russell Crowe brings the gravitas as Father Gabriel Amorth, the rogue exorcist. Amorth is sarcastic, brusque, and indefatiguable. The giant man zooms around on a scooter and expects a double expresso when he arrives anywhere. He easily waltzes around his detractors in the church because he reports directly to the Pope.

But Crowe is not alone in the gravitas department. Screen legend Franco Nero has done it all, playing astronauts, gunslingers, cops, vigilantes, and even a ninja. Now he is regal as the elderly Pope who trusts Amorth to guard his church against its internal and external enemies.

Daniel Zovato delivers a convincing performance as Father Tomás Esquibel, the young priest transformed by his encounter with Amorth. Another standout is Peter DeSouza-Feighoney as the exorcism-requiring child.

Thing 4: Hey, remember these key points!

Screenwriters Michael Petroni (The Rite) and Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Unholy) have thoroughly connected the backstory dots for us while keeping the pace up in the first half. We get up to speed quickly on the family drama and the many feathers ruffled by Crowe’s character.

But maybe the writers have done too good a job as some details are repeated quite often. By the film’s end, some biblical bits will be seared into your brain.

After the breakneck speed of the first half, the movie slows down a bit as the two priests must rally the mom and sister while figuring out their battle plan. It’s a bit like in a kung fu movie when the leads have to go practice in the forest for a while.

The Pope’s Exorcist doesn’t stay in its lane as a horror picture. Towards the end, it starts getting a little superhero-ish and even more like a buddy cop movie, as the two priests suddenly gel as a demon-fighting duo.

The movie is inspired by the life and work of the real Father Amorth, an outspoken exorcist who wrote several books and made hard-to-believe claims of performing over 100,000 exorcisms.

Lastly, there is Thing 5: Sequel alert

With 200 biblical fallen angels trying to rise from the depths of hell by passing through ancient, sealed church properties, the Vatican will need the team of Amorth and Esquibel again.

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