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The Pope's Exorcist

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The Pope's Exorcist is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by Julius Avery, and starring Russell Crowe as Father Gabriele Amorth. The film also stars Daniel Zovatto, Alex Essoe and Franco Nero. It is based on Amorth's memoirs An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories.

Production began in 2020 when Screen Gems bought the rights to Amorth's story. After a directorial replacement and script revisions, filming took place from August to October 2022 in Ireland. It was released in India on April 7, 2023, and was released in the United States and Canada on April 14, 2023.

Plot[]

Father Gabriele Amorth, the Pope's personal exorcist, and an earthy, humorous, practical man at times, arrives at a small Italian village where a man is allegedly possessed by a demon. Along with the local priest, Amorth enters the room where the man is tied up. While exorcising the man, he refers to the spirit as Satan and sends it into a pig brought in for the exorcism. As soon as the demon enters the pig, the pig is killed with a shotgun.

This incident gets Amorth in trouble with a Church tribunal, since he acted without permission from superiors. One tribunal member is a friendly African bishop, Lumumba, but another is a vicious American cardinal, Sullivan, skeptical of exorcism and even demonic possession. Amorth replies that evil does exist, and that he did not perform a true exorcism, but rather, some psychological theater to help the mentally-disturbed man. Disgusted, Amorth walks out of the tribunal.

After this, the Pope assigns him to visit a possessed little boy named Henry in Spain. Henry, his mother Julia, and his rebellious teenage sister Amy travel to Spain from America to take possession of a mysterious old abbey which was Henry's father's sole bequest to his family after he died in a car accident, with Henry also present. The traumatized Henry has not spoken since the accident. Workmen, who were restoring the abbey so the family could sell it, leave after a sinister fire. Henry starts behaving bizarrely; brain tests show nothing abnormal.

Henry, satanically possessed, asks for a priest; the local Father Esquibel arrives, but Henry abuses him and says, "Wrong f---ing priest!" Amorth arrives and enlists Esquibel as an assistant, though Esquibel is untrained as an exorcist. Esquibel says he has heard of Amorth, but hasn't read his books; Amorth says, "They're good books." Esquibel makes mistakes as a junior exorcist at first, including strangling Henry when Henry antagonizes him.

The duo make various attempts to exorcise Henry, without success. Henry's demon even possesses Amy at times. Amorth finds Julia has not been a religious believer since childhood, but he convinces her to pray.

In Rome, the Pope is taken sick while reading documents about the Spanish case, and is hospitalized. Amorth finds a well on the abbey grounds going down to a complex sealed off by the Church as demonically dangerous. He learns that a founder of the Spanish Inquisition was possessed while being an exorcist, which let him infiltrate the Church and do many evils, including the Inquisition. Amorth also finds the Church covered this up, and eventually discovers the name of Henry's demon, Asmodeus, which will assist the exorcism.

Amorth and Esquibel reveal to each other their own, and absolve each other's, sins or traumas: that Amorth has guilt from surviving World War II as an Italian partisan, and that a mentally-ill woman asked Amorth's help, and committed suicide when he did not help her enough; and Esquibel had extramarital intercourse with young women. While this helps them bond, they are still unable to exorcise Henry, and they have horrible visions of the women with whom they failed; the exorcism succeeds only when Amorth offers himself to be possessed, which chimes with Henry's previously stating that he wants to destroy Amorth.

Amorth tries to hang himself, but the demon doesn't allow it, preferring that Amorth infiltrate and destroy the Church. However, Esquibel helps Amorth drive away the demon, and demonic appearances resembling the two women who troubled Amorth and Esquibel. The Pope recovers, as does Henry.

The triumphant duo visit Rome, and find Sullivan has taken leave in Guam, and been replaced by Lumumba. Amorth and Esquibel are admitted to a special Church archive of mysterious events; Lumumba tells them they will be visiting hundreds of other evil sites, with the help of a map Amorth discovered at the abbey, to combat the Devil. Amorth joyfully says, "We're going to Hell!" Finally, words on the screen narrate biographical details about Amorth's papal-exorcist career, including that he has written many books, and "The books are good."

An after-credits photo of the real Amorth sticking out his tongue appears, along with his birth and death dates.

Cast[]

  • Russell Crowe as Father Gabriele Amorth[5]
  • Daniel Zovatto as Father Esquibel[5]
  • Alex Essoe as Julia[5]
  • Franco Nero as The Pope[5]
  • Laurel Marsden as Amy[5]
  • Peter DeSouza-Feighoney as Henry[5]
  • Cornell S. John as Bishop Lumumba[6]
  • Ralph Ineson as Demon (voice)[7]

Production[]

Development[]

In October 2020, Screen Gems acquired the rights to the story of Father Gabriele Amorth with Ángel Gómez hired to direct.[8] Chester Hastings and R. Dean McCreary were attached to write the script, while Michael Patrick Kaczmarek, Jeff Katz, and Eddie Siebert were set to produce the film.[9] In June 2022, Julius Avery boarded the film as director along with producer Doug Belgrad of 2.0 Entertainment.[10] Subsequent script revisions were provided by Michael Petroni, Evan Spiliotopoulos, and Chuck MacLean.[11]

Deepa Barath at AP News recounts,"The Rev. Edward Siebert[,] about six years ago[,] worried about the deal he had just closed with the Society of St. Paul to purchase the rights to the life story of the Rev. Gabriele Amorth — the late Pauline priest known as 'the James Bond of exorcists.' Siebert, who teaches film at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and runs the college’s film production company, had no motion picture credits to his name and wondered at the time: 'What have I gone and done?' ... Siebert, who worked for nearly eight years to bring Amorth’s story to the big screen, says 'The Pope’s Exorcist' has not changed his views about horror films or exorcism; both give him the chills. But it warms his heart to see a priest shown in a positive light after so many films and TV shows have vilified or belittled them. 'It’s good to see a priest talking about prayer, forgiveness, God’s love, and on top of all that, vanquishing demons,' he said. 'It feels good to finally see a priest as a hero.'"[12]

Casting[]

In June 2022, Russell Crowe was cast as Amorth.[13] The following month, Alex Essoe and Daniel Zovatto joined the cast.[14] In September, Franco Nero was cast as the Pope, while Laurel Marsden, Cornell S. John, and Peter DeSouza-Feighoney were added to the cast.[6] Ralph Ineson voices the demon.[7]

Filming[]

Principal photography took place from August to October 2022 in Dublin and Limerick, Ireland and Rome, Italy.[15][16][17] Scenes were filmed with Crowe in Trinity College in Dublin.[18]

Release[]

The Pope's Exorcist was released in India on April 7, 2023.[19] It was released in the United States on April 14, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.[20]

Reception[]

Box office[]

As of April 14, 2023, The Pope's Exorcist has grossed $3.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $12 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $15.5 million.[4]

In the United States and Canada, The Pope's Exorcist was released alongside Renfield, Mafia Mamma, Sweetwater, and Suzume, and is projected to gross between $4-10 million from 3,178 theaters in its opening weekend.[3][21] The film made $3.5 million on its first day, including $850,000 from Thursday night previews.[22][23]

Overseas, the film was released a week ahead of its U.S. debut, and grossed $12 million from 43 markets. The highest grossing countries were Mexico ($2.5 million), Spain ($1.3 million), the United Kingdom and Brazil ($1 million each),and India ($585,000).[24]

Critical response[]

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 47% of 5.1 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 58/10. On the website, the critics' consensus reads, "Dominus Crowe! The Pope's Exorcist is standard-issue holy horror in most respects, but its star's sanctified performance will be the answer to many viewers' prayers." Using a weighted average calculator, Metacritic assigned the film a score of 44 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by PostTrak gave the film a 79% positive score.[23]

Tamlin Magee at The Guardian noted, "Most professions are flattered by the attentions of Hollywood. Yet a body representing the real-life practitioners depicted in new Russell Crowe horror The Pope’s Exorcist have condemned the film as 'unreliable … splatter cinema'. ... In a statement issued last month, the International Association of Exorcists (IAE) called the title of the film 'pretentious' and claimed that its Da Vinci Code-esque conspiratorial plot poses 'unacceptable doubt' to the public as to who 'the real enemy is, the devil or ecclesiastical power'."[25]

See also[]

  • William Peter Blatty's 1973 film The Exorcist
  • The Devil and Father Amorth

References[]

  1. ↑ The Pope's Exorcist Writing Credits (March 24, 2023). Retrieved on April 11, 2023.
  2. ↑ The Pope's Exorcist (15).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rubin, Rebecca (April 12, 2023). Box Office: Nicolas Cages Renfield, Pope's Exorcist No Match for Super Mario Bros. Movie.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Pope’s Exorcist (2023).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 The Pope's Exorcist Domestic Production Notes (March 22, 2023).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Grobar, Matt (August 9, 2022). The Pope's Exorcist Finds Its Pope In Django 's Franco Nero; Laurel Marsden, Cornell S. John & Peter DeSouza-Feighoney Also Set For Screen Gems Thriller. Retrieved on September 19, 2022.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Squires, John (2023-01-27). The Pope's Exorcist – The Witch Star Ralph Ineson Will Voice the Film's Demon [Exclusive].
  8. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 26, 2020). Ángel Gómez To Direct The Pope's Exorcist For Screen Gems.
  9. ↑ McNary, Dave (October 26, 2020). Ángel Gómez Attached to The Pope's Exorcist Movie.
  10. ↑ Gonzalez, Umberto (June 27, 2022). Russell Crowe to Drive the Devil Out of People in The Pope's Exorcist for Screen Gems.
  11. ↑ Squires, John (June 27, 2022). The Pope's Exorcist: Russell Crowe Starring in Horror Movie from Overlord Director.
  12. ↑ Barath, Deepa (April 14, 2023). Russell Crowe stars as Vatican’s ‘James Bond of exorcists’.
  13. ↑ Grobar, Matt (June 27, 2022). Russell Crowe To Star In Julius Avery's Supernatural Thriller The Pope's Exorcist For Screen Gems.
  14. ↑ Grobar, Matt (July 29, 2022). The Pope's Exorcist: Alex Essoe & Daniel Zovatto Join Russell Crowe In Supernatural Thriller From Screen Gems. Retrieved on September 19, 2022.
  15. ↑ O'Regan, Donal (August 25, 2022). Limerick is all set to welcome Hollywood A-Lister for movie shoot. Limerick Leader.
  16. ↑ Kit, Borys (June 27, 2022). Russell Crowe to Star in Supernatural Thriller The Pope's Exorcist (Exclusive).
  17. ↑ Kroll, Justin (October 28, 2022). 'Station 11's Daniel Zovatto To Co-Star In Anna Kendrick's Directorial Debut The Dating Game. Deadline Hollywood.
  18. ↑ Masterson, Eugene (August 3, 2022). Russell Crowe spotted playing famous exorcist on set in Trinity College, Dublin. Sunday World.
  19. ↑ The Pope's Exorcist Movie Review: Russell Crowe shines in a lacklustre horror film.
  20. ↑ Hamman, Cody (2023-02-21). The Pope's Exorcist featurette gives an early look at Russell Crowe supernatural thriller.
  21. ↑ Robbins, Shawn (April 12, 2023). Weekend Box Office Forecast: Super Mario Bros. Chases More Animation History in 2nd Frame as Renfield, The Pope’s Exorcist, and Suzume Debut.
  22. ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (April 14, 2023). Box Office: ‘Renfield’ Makes $900,000 in Previews.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 14, 2023). ‘Super Mario Bros’ Bouncing To $72M, Best Second Weekend Ever For Illumination – Friday Box Office.
  24. ↑ Bowza!: ‘The Super Mario Bros Movie’ Makes History With $378M Global Start; Best-Ever WW Debut For An Animated Film & No. 2 Overseas Launch With $173M – International Box Office.
  25. ↑ Magee, Tamlin (April 10, 2023). ‘Unreliable splatter’: Vatican exorcists denounce Russell Crowe’s Pope’s Exorcist.

External links[]

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