[Movie] The Pope's Exorcist: Inside The Vatican (2023)

I grew up in a Christian home where we watch different deliverance sessions on live TV from some pastors around the world, where they lay their hands on people and some starts shaking, some fallen and some talking and trying to resist, so sometimes time, when one of my friends posted a part of this movie on his WhatsApp status, that was when I got to know that there was a while Hollywood movie that was built entirely around catholic, Vatican exorcist, I was very curious to see how exactly they do their casting out of demons compared to war I have seen of live television.

Pope's Exorcist is the title, and it was released sometime around 2023, and the director was Julius Avery. This movie starred a popular face I know, Russell Crowe, who took the role of Father Gabriele Amorth. But I don't think I've seen the rest before. Father Gabriele was the main figure in this movie because he has served for decades as the chief exorcist at the Vatican, and a young priest who goes by the name Daniel served as his assistant, and Franco as the main Pope.

This movie follows Father Gabriele digging deep on the case of a young boy who got possessed at an old abbey in Spain during their visit. And this whole situation started like a simple horror set-up, but gradually, it started revealing a much deeper, centuries old conspiracy the Vatican has apparently been keeping from the public.

Maybe one of the biggest mistakes I made was watching this movie alone at night, because originally, I am not a big fan of horror movies or anything related to them. I know that decision wasn't right by me and my perspective, seeing how different Russell Crowe's Amorth felt from every priest character that I have to see around. He gives some kind of jokes even during the exorcism, rides a Vespa, and confronts the Vatican directly like someone who truly knows what he stands for. And merely watching this gave the feeling that the Catholic Church looks less like a monolith and more like an actual work environment that is always governed by its own official politics from higher power.

At some point, I was lost in this movie; maybe the writer was trying to prove something; I don't know because it got to a stage where it started feeling like two different movies rather than the initial movie I had been watching from the start. But as the movie was drawing towards the end, the final confrontation, it fully commits to its own madness, and if I am being honest, I respected the boldness even where it stopped making complete sense.

Compared to what I grew up watching on live TV, because I have never been to or witnessed any live deliverance where everything seems loud, very instant, communal, and procedural, which looks overly strange to sit with but genuinely interesting.

Not a fan of mystery or horror movies, like I said, but this movie was mainly carried by Crowe, who played his role to the fullest and best of his ability.

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Rating: 55/100