5/2/23 - The Pope’s Exorcist (2023) - 5-/10

Most exorcism movies tend to be a bit worn out and tired. The same tropes, beats, reliance on shock & body horror, all while exorcising adequate drama. Fun is a lost art within the genre, but at their core, there is an almost silliness at play. Demonic possession relies on a deep-seated sinister terror of loss of identity, self, and volition, all while embracing a supernatural ephemera that impels the existence of undiluted and inhuman evil. For true believers, that’s possibly knee-shaking fodder, but for the skeptic it all comes off as absurd. If executed well with tone, characterization, vital storytelling and indelibly creepy psychological traumatization, I can find few things more disturbing to me personally, agnostic and all. But quality exorcism films are rare, and when one has traveled down this path as many times as I, they are predictable and mundane. 

Now, the Pope’s Exorcist isn’t breaking down any doors to the Vahalla of chills, but it does embrace the cute absurdity of the genre. With post-Unhinged dadbod Crowe on a scooter as our protagonist, his genial quips, and the spiritual “combat” on display, it lets this often stifled genre breath. And once the plot pieces fall into place, it takes on a Da Vinci Code-esque jab at the church & its history in a fresh and liberal pleasing manner.

It does not execute its shocks nor scares in a meaningful way, and falls victim to the generic elements of so much of its brethren, but it does embrace those tropey pitfalls to propel it to having fun while saying something if not new then slightly unexpected. I can’t call it a good film, but it may have enough going for it to be a fun time and save it from being awful. Now, does it need a franchise? I would lean towards “hell no”, but then I envision an embrace of wilder elements, jet setting Italian Russelcist, and a demonic upping-the-ante ala every Fast and the Furious sequel and I say “Bring on the hordes of hell to take over more tykes!”.