A new horror film titled “The Pope’s Exorcist” was released in theaters and was disappointing to say the least, as the trailer made the movie look much better than it was.

The movie follows Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican’s leading exorcist, as he investigates the possession of a child and uncovers a conspiracy the Vatican has tried to keep secret.

The movie starts off in the 80s as Amorth is working on a case where a man is supposedly being “possessed” by the Devil. When he meets him, he doesn’t use exorcism but uses psychology to make the man’s mind go into a pig’s mind. It’s successful and one of Amorth’s friends shoots the pig immediately and tells the man to get some rest.

 The movie then pans to a single mother with a rebellious daughter and a traumatized son as they move into a new house, looking for a fresh start. However, the house, within a night of staying there, gets haunted after the son visits the basement and is possessed by a dangerous supernatural being known as the “Prince of Demons and Hell,” or Asmodeus.

The plot wasn’t any different than other movies; however, it stayed on par with other horror films. It was interesting to see how the movie attempted to differentiate itself to make it memorable, but it didn’t succeed in the way the director, Julius Avery would have hoped.

The plot might’ve been identical to other cinematic horror movies, but the casting of Russell Crowe as Gabriele Amorth was incredible. His portrayal of the pope’s exorcist enhanced the movie and had the audience enthralled with the plot. Crowe was the shining actor in the film as the others displayed unacceptable portrayals of their characters. 

As the possessed child used the same line in every scene and didn’t exhibit someone’s mind getting controlled all that well.

The movie wasn’t terrible nonetheless. The flow was better than expected as it followed each event without leaving any details hidden and the subtle mention of the signs on the books, doors and other items was great for the audience to understand the plot better. 

If you are a massive horror fan, this might not be the best movie for you, but if you want to see an enjoyable horror flick then I would recommend this movie. It’s a delightful ride into exorcism, catholic beliefs and how easy it is to be manipulated by the Devil.