‘The Pope’s Exorcist’: The Russell Crowe Melodrama Is Big, Loud And Full Of Faith

A bearded priest, with another priest behind him. — Father Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe) in Screen Gems’ THE POPE’S EXORCIST. Photo: Jonathan Hession. © 2023 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved

First up, there is no such title as the “pope’s exorcist.” But that little factoid just gets blasted away in the flood of special effects, demonic doings and melodrama that is the new film The Pope’s Exorcist.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I really enjoyed it, because …

The Catholic Church Looks Best When She’s Fighting Incarnate Evil

Coming out April 14 from Screen Gems, part of the Sony Entertainment Motion Picture Group, this highly fictionalized version of the work of Diocese of Rome exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, S.S.P., is very entertaining and has merit.

As I said about another, rather silly, entrant in the Catholic-horror genre, The Nun, back in 2018:

… in its own ridiculous, shambling, haphazard way, The Nun is a testament to the power of prayer and the power of Christ. Prayers and holy water battle the demons, and the Blood of Christ dispatches it for good. Father Burke and Sister Irene don’t have superpowers, it’s Christ working through them.

And that’s what, in the end, makes this movie entertaining and oddly affecting. As I always say, in the movies, when Satan and his minions threaten to sweep across the face of the Earth — or at least, Romania — you gotta go to the Catholics.

We got the Latin; we got the outfits; we got the stuff; we got the mojo — but the power of Christ, not the power of us, compels the demons.

You don’t have to be perfect to exorcise demons, but you have to believe. Doesn’t work otherwise.

But How Did the Guy from Gladiator Wind Up Playing Father Amorth?

With the possible exception of Idris Elba, it’s hard to come up with an actor who looks less like the bald, elfin, clean-shaven Father Amorth than Russell Crowe. That being said, he was an inspired choice for the role.

Crowe has the rare ability to look physically formidable while still having a light twinkle in his eye. Reportedly, Father Amorth could be a bit of a wit, which irritated his demonic foes.

Crowe brings a solidity and gravity to the role, along with a sense of fun — and of being haunted by the past. He also looks nifty in a cassock, and while riding Father Amorth’s Vespa scooter.

In the production notes, Crowe said:

Without question, he is a man of deep faith, but also very definitely, his own man. He is determined to be open and upfront; he is not afraid of the failings of humanity. He accepts all of the foibles and quirks of people. That simple level of gut-based honesty helps him do his job.

How True (and How Catholic) Is This Film?

The film is (extremely) loosely based on a couple of Father Amorth’s many books.

The Italian-born priest, who fought Nazis as an Italian partisan in WWII (the movie references that, and it is true), claims to have done 100,000 exorcisms between taking up the job in the mid-’80s, and his death at 91 in 2016.

Now, we’re not talking about full-blown battles with the devil every single time. But, it’s still an impressive stat, considering he also wrote many articles and about 30 books.

What sustained Father Amorth — indeed, any exorcist — was his faith. And in The Pope’s Exorcist, that is his armor and his chief weapon. As I said above, the power an exorcist wields comes through him but not from him.

Unlike Catholic Sacraments, where an imperfect, even doubting, priest can still perform a perfect baptism or wedding, an exorcist must have faith in Christ to withstand the snares of the devil.

And he wields the power of that faith through prayer, the Scriptures and sacramentals, like holy water, crucifixes and so on.

Questions of faith — in oneself, in Christ, in the Church — permeate the film. And there’s a reason for that.

As quoted in the production notes, producer Michael Patrick Kaczmarek said:

I believe I was able to succeed where other producers failed in that I was able to convince Father Amorth about my sincere religious devotion.

In our exchanges, I was able to convince him that if he took the chance to work with me, that I would try to make sure the Catholicity would be preserved in the film—and that he would be respected as a person along with the Church and his religious order.

Heck, there’s even a line about prayers being more powerful in Latin. That should make some folks happy.

It’s All Good, as Long as You Don’t Take It Too Seriously

The Pope’s Exorcist is not The Exorcist, the undisputed 1973 gold standard in the Catholic-exorcism genre, although it tries to emulate that classic in some ways (no pea soup, though).

There are some giggle-worthy moments, like a random cassocked priest waving a thurible full of smoking incense in the middle of some Vatican building (not a church), and apparent monks in black robes with pointy medieval hoods gliding around a cavernous library.

Also, the pope (Franco Nero) in The Pope’s Exorcist does not (nor do I think he is meant to) resemble any current or recent pontiffs. For one, he has a beard. The Church’s last actual bearded pope was Innocent XII (1691-1700).

And the Plot …

It’s the old trope of Americans (a widow, her teen daughter and her young son) inheriting an ancient European property (in this case, a former abbey in Spain), and discovering it has all sorts of dark secrets.

If you assume there’s something buried in the bowels of this former abbey, you’re not wrong.

The crumbling Gothic edifice sets the stage for a superhero-level, CGI-laden battle between the forces of darkness and Father Amorth, with help from a young Spanish priest (Daniel Zovatto), who has some issues of his own he must overcome.

The Real Priest in The Pope’s Exorcist

Interestingly, there is an actual cleric among the executive producers. Jesuit Father Edward Siebert, S.J., represents one of the producing partners, Loyola Productions, a nonprofit production company located at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

In the production notes, he said:

Stories of good and evil are as old as time, but the story of Father Amorth and his unique role in fighting evil is an important story to tell. As a filmmaker and a Jesuit priest, I was in a unique position to acquire the rights to Father Amorth’s story and help shape the project.

And, if you want to see the real Father Amorth in action, just check out The Exorcist director William Friedkin’s 2018 documentary about him, The Devil and Father Amorth, which I wrote about here.

Catholic publisher Sophia Institute Press (which put out three of Father Amorth’s best-sellers) has also released a new book called The Pope’s Exorcist: 101 Questions About. Fr. Gabriele Amorth.