Transcript:
So Russell Crowe is in another exorcist movie. I swear, I think Crowe’s doctor recommended that he get more exercise and Crowe misheard him. That’s the only reason I can come up with for Crowe to star in two of these types of films—soon to be three as it seems THE POPE’S EXORCIST is going to be getting a sequel. But this one, THE EXORCISM, has some interesting facets worth exploring and I’ll do just that…after this.
THE EXORCISM (2024)
New in select theaters from Vertical Releasing!
Directed by Joshua John Miller.
Written by M.A. Fortin & Joshua John Miller.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/I1lNNd_klK4
Actor Anthony Miller (Russell Crowe) is attempting to revive his career after facing an almost career ending bout with addiction and alcoholism. He’s also trying to put his life together for his teenage daughter Lee (played by FEAR STREET’s Ryan Simpkins), who has found herself expelled from school. Anthony takes a lead role in a remake of what looks to be THE EXORCIST, though they never name the movie as such. But as Anthony gets further into the role, demons from his past reemerge and threaten not only the fate of the film, but the lives of himself and his daughter.
I’m going to go into a little backstory before letting you know my thoughts on THE EXORCISM. It’s directed by Joshua John Miller, the son of Jason Miller who starred as Father Karras in the original EXORCIST. The film was actually made before THE POPE’S EXORCIST but has been sitting on the shelf since it was filmed in 2019, so THE POPE’S EXORCIST was released sooner. So really, this was Crowe’s first stab at an exorcism film. And though I don’t know for sure, this film really feels like it was an attempt at an actual EXORCIST reboot as it has Kevin Williamson as a producer and references the original EXORCIST film in a very meta-way, which is very much Williamson’s style. All of that makes THE EXORCISM, despite the very generic title, somewhat of a unicorn in the subgenre of exorcist movies. But do these unique qualities equate to a movie worth seeing?
In a word or two…sort of.
It’s frustrating because there are the makings of a really epic and unique horror film here. First off, the cinematography of THE EXORCISM is very cool. The way the scenes are lit make for a distinct separation between what’s playing out on film, what’s being dredged up from Anthony’s troubled past, and what’s happening in the real world. In the film being made in this movie, everything is cold and blue, while warmer lights and tones lull you viewer into a sense of security in the scenes in Anthony’s home. There are also some wonderful set pieces as the movie set shows a cross section of the home the exorcism takes place in that, when filmed from a distance, gives off a quality you felt in those miniature rooms from HEREDITARY. These little details and specific decisions on the way this film looks shows that someone making this film knows how to make a movie look good and creepy.
The acting in the first three quarters of the film is pretty great too. Ryan Simpkins is likable as Anthony’s daughter Lee. She really embodies the life of a child of an addict, who is filled with rage at their parent’s self destructive behavior, but loves him and enables him all the same because he is the only person in her world. Samantha Mathis has a small and unfortunately, insignificant role in a blink and you’ll miss her performance. Sam Worthington is basically Sam Worthington, which means he is ok, but fails to really stand out as a charismatic character. The real treat is seeing David Hyde Pierce play the priest who is assigned as a consultant for the film to make sure all of the church-ly stuff is accurate. His snide humor that was so prevalent in FRASIER is all over this role and often serves as a welcome tension reliever. But this is Russell Crowe’s show and he really proves he’s still got a lot of range in a role that the in-film director (played by Adam Goldberg) himself points out that “the actor doesn’t look like someone you would find in a horror movie.” This is a line that might have rung true when this movie was being made, but since THE POPE’S EXORCISM was released before it, I think that line might have been better off cut. Still, Crowe is playing this movie, at least the first three quarters of it, as if it were a tense drama. Anthoiny is dealing with real issues; alcoholism, drug addiction, guilt over the loss of his wife, guilt over his absence from his daughter’s life, and deep seeded trauma from his past involving his time in a Catholic school as a kid. While there are some supernatural elements going on peppered throughout THE EXORCISM, the strength in the first three quarters of the film lays in Crowe’s pained performance of a man who is desperately trying to redeem himself despite his own major faults. I wish those mature themes would have run all the way through the film.
Unfortunately, the last act is an absolute mess. So much that I felt utterly confused as to what exactly was going on as demons are jumping from one character to another, Crowe is being tossed all over the place, and of course the typical repeated chantings we’ve seen in all other exorcism movies gets vomited out sloppily all over the place. I don’t know if there was a more subtle and nuanced ending to this one and the producers wanted to punch it up with a wham bang ending, sort of like what happened with THE EXORCIST III: LEGION. Or maybe the filmmakers just really didn’t know how to wrap things up. But the route they chose is messy, confusing, hammily acted, and just a total misfire compared to the much more creepy, under-the-radar chills that built up to the last fifteen minutes of this thing.
I get what the movie was going for. I think Kevin Williamson might have influenced a little too much cheeky meta-humor and self-referencing of the exorcism genre and the reported mishaps that happened while filming, but these are the clumsiest parts of the film. I also get it that structurally, the writers sort of had the story play out the same way the original EXORCIST did with a lot of slow burns, small weirdness, and subtle imagery being used. THE EXORCISM even manages to toss in a few scenes of subliminal imagery as was done in THE EXORCIST. Still, I feel the bombastic end served as a detriment to THE EXORCISM while the build was much more natural in the original EXORCIST.
Again, as with my EXORCIST remake review, it is unfair to compare THE EXORCISM with one of the best horror movies of all time, but if you’re choosing to do an exorcism film, comparisons are going to be made no matter what. This film choses to reference the original EXORCIST numerous times through dialog, through set recreations, through subtle nods like giving the lead the last name of Miller. All of these things call for THE EXORCISM to be compared to the big kahuna of possession flicks. And like many, many exorcism films before it, THE EXORCISM pales in comparison.
But if only the film would have taken its own path. The first hour and a few minutes are solid, referencing the original, but putting its own spin on it as it comes from the perspective of the priest rather than the beleaguered mother. Maybe there’s a draft of the script that does just that; veering away from all of the cliched readings from a bible, repeated chants, floating beds, wind machines, and rumbling sounds. But it’s all there in those final minutes and it left me with a huge case of disappointment for what THE EXORCISM could have been.

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