The Pope’s Exorcist [Blu-Ray]

Director: Julius Avery

Cast: Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto, Alex Essoe

Release Date: June 13, 2023

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 5/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican (Academy Award®-winner Russell Crowe; 2000, Best Actor, Gladiator), The Pope’s Exorcist follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy’s terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.

Please Note: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ is inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, and accompanies Amorth as he is sent to investigate a supposed possession of a young boy. Upon his arrival, Amorth soon realizes that something worse than a mere possession may be at play here and it’s all likely connected to a troubling history connected to the property that the family recently moved into, and a centuries old conspiracy revolving around the Vatican that they’ve desperately tried to keep hidden for ages. Now this man of God will have to risk his own life in the hope of eradicating this evil presence once and for all.

Directed by Julius Avery (Overlord, Samaritan) from a screenplay written by Michael Petroni (The Rite) and Evan Spiliotpoulos (Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins), and a screen story by R. Dean McCreary & Chester Hastings and Jeff Katz, Avery does a capable job at the helm of ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ guiding along the tale with a fitting pace and some style throughout. The film’s cast includes Russell Crowe (Unhinged), Daniel Zovatto (TV’s Station Eleven), Alex Essoe (Doctor Sleep) and Franco Nero (John Wick: Chapter 2) who each offer decent and fitting performances for the most part in their respective roles, although Crowe tends to regularly outshine the rest of the cast and often proves to be the best part of the film.

‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ explores a crucial moment in the life of Father Gabriele Amorth, the Chief Exorcist of the Vatican for many years (at least within the film because one can only assume much of this was intentionally fictionalized). The film has an interesting premise and some capable stars at its disposal along with some undeniably entertaining and exciting moments to keep viewers enthralled, although it never quite manages to evolve into a great film, nor a terrible one for that matter; instead providing a fairly average thriller that is quite enjoyable throughout most of its duration and benefits a great deal from the commanding presence of lead star Russell Crowe who is easily one of the best things about it and seems to consistently keep things moving along smoothly while additionally helping to maintain the audience’s attention during some of the slower moments.

The story at the core of ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ as well as the events that build along the way are certainly worthy of exploring in a film, but perhaps most curious is that it never actually becomes even remotely scary and even the attacks and possessions are more tense and intriguing than terrifying, even as things get far more severe once Amorth begins piecing things together and the demon really takes hold of the child it’s inhabiting. Director Julius Avery does a solid job guiding along the film and keeping things looking sharp and stylish, while the cast helps to ensure things never become too ridiculous and the end result is a film that’s worth checking out and is quite entertaining as a whole; just as long as you don’t go in expecting something remarkable or truly terrifying.

Overall, ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ is a fairly enjoyable exorcism thriller that benefits a great deal from a memorable performance by Russell Crowe which is definitely one of the film’s highlights, and the capable guidance of director Julius Avery. It never quite manages to become great or horrible, but instead offers up a fairly average ride that many will still surely enjoy as long as you don’t go in with unreasonable expectations. If you’re already at all interested in this one or are a fan of star Russell Crowe or director Julius Avery then I would certainly encourage giving it a chance whenever convenient, although I would strongly suggest renting a copy before making a purchase for anyone who hasn’t already seen it because this might not be one that a lot of folks will find themselves repeatedly wanting to revisit.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks phenomenal and delivers a clean and wonderfully detailed presentation from start to finish that never suffers from any unexpected troubles arising along the way. It holds up impressively even during the numerous darkly lit sequences and shows rewarding detail and clarity on everything from exteriors, interiors and underground areas to character clothing, faces and everything else onscreen. Overall, this is a fantastic high definition video presentation from Sony that never fails to impress and it should easily thrill fans of the film as well as first time viewers.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack is just as stellar as the accompanying video presentation and it provides a crisp, clean and wildly immersive audio presentation throughout. It constantly takes full advantage of all five available channels in order to send creepy effects, along with construction work, aggressive weather and pounding, plus a great deal more zipping throughout the various speakers at every reasonable opportunity, and never clashing with any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously. Overall, this is a magnificent 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that delivers aggressively and cleanly at every turn and it should more than please viewers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ includes a couple brief extras in the way of Behind the Scenes Featurettes that include interviews/comments with the cast and crew and explore bringing the film to life, along with the man who served as its inspiration. The included Featurettes are ‘Introducing Father Amorth’ (running approximately 6 minutes in length) and ‘What Possessed You?’ (running approximately 5 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 5/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Screen Gems & Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

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