Russell Crowe Fights Demons for the Vatican in ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’
If demonic possession and religious horror are your sub-genres of choice, The Pope’s Exorcist is going to be a must-see.
Crowe is playing Father Gabriele Amorth. He was a real person that entered the priesthood in the 1950s, acted as an exorcist for the Vatican for nearly four decades, and went on to found the International Association of Exorcists. Amorth claimed to have performed tens of thousands of exorcisms before his death in 2016.
The modern Church doesn’t have a clear stance on demons, possession, or exorcists. His life’s mission to battle an unsubstantiated demonic evil made him a controversial figure. Despite the disbelief surrounding his work, Amorth treated it like a science and documented everything. The Pope’s Exorcist is based on Amorth’s personal records and explores the more compelling and memorable cases. Based on this first look, they’ll also be exposing some of the Church’s secrets surrounding exorcisms.
Father Amorth’s path started around the same time as demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (who inspired The Conjuring series) were operating. He was ordained two years after the New England Society for Psychic Research was founded. They all continued their work into the 1970s when there was a subset of people who thought Satanism, the paranormal, and demonic possession were an existential threat.
None of it is real – but at least it makes for some great horror movies.
via Sony Pictures
The Pope’s Exorcist Details
The movie is directed by Julius Avery (Overlord) from a script by Chester Hastings, R. Dean McCreary, and Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Unholy). Russell Crowe leads the cast as Father Gabriele Amorth. He’s joined by Franco Nero (John Wick: Chapter 2) as the Pope, Ralph Ineson, Alex Essoe, Daniel Zovatto, Paloma Bloyd, and others.
Father Gabriele Amorth, chief exorcist for the Vatican, battles Satan and innocent-possessing demons. A detailed portrait of a priest who performed more than 100,000 exorcisms in his lifetime.
The Pope’s Exorcist hits theaters on April 14th.
