“The Exorcism”: We’ve Been There Before, And So Has Russell Crowe | Review
Oh my God, something is wrong with Russell Crowe. The excellent New Zealand actor, Oscar winner for “A Beautiful Mind” in 2000, has recently begun to discover horror cinema, especially exorcism films. After the mediocre “The Pope’s Exorcist” from 2023, which presented the (true) story of the Pope’s chief exorcist, comes “The Exorcism,” in which Russell Crowe plays a failed actor in a horror film about exorcism who is possessed by something malicious. These films are very similar in concept, to the point that after “The Exorcism” was announced, quite a few horror fans tried to figure out whether it was a sequel, a prequel, a spin-off, a reboot, or whatever. The fact that the posters for the two films are very similar contributed to this confusion.
The good news is that, as far as we know, there is no connection between the two films. The bad news is that these films are pretty similar because they are very generic, predictable, and clichéd within the subgenre of exorcism films, which have become very clichéd over time. “The Exorcism” is a film with enormous potential, but it is very disappointing at the moment of truth since there are many flaws regarding the movie-making, the script, and more. So it is true that Russell Crowe does his job and provides us with some bizarre moments, some would say cringeworthy, but is that enough to make the film worth watching?
We’ve Already Been On This Set: What Is The Exorcism About?
“The Exorcism,” first of all, had a very generic name, sometimes with some cosmetic changes in different countries (for example, “The Exorcist” in Canada). The film begins with a scene in which we meet Tony (Adrian Pasdar, “Heroes,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), an actor who plays a priest in an exorcism film called “The Georgetown Project” – a name that is of course no coincidence, because William Friedkin’s 1973 masterpiece “The Exorcist” takes place in the exact location. The film they’re making, inside the film’s plot, is a remake of “The Exorcist.”
On a side note, “The Georgetown Project” was the original name of “The Exorcism,” and its current name is in France, if I got it right. Still, maybe they realized at some point that a generic film requires a generic name and went on with “The Exorcism.”
In any case, something attacks the unfortunate actor on set and makes him end his life. Immediately after the opening scene, we meet Lee (Ryan Simpkins from the “Fear Street” trilogy), a young woman with short blond hair who visits her estranged father after being expelled from school. The father, Anthony Miller (Crowe), is an aging actor whose career peak is behind him, also due to his personal story, which seems to have come out of the life of a reality show contestant. As a child, he was sexually assaulted, later losing his wife to cancer, which led to his addictions to alcohol and drugs while seriously damaging her career. He accepts the priest’s role as a replacement for the actor who died, and his determined but unemployed daughter helps him on the set.
In between, we meet several other characters from the production of the fictional film who will accompany us, such as the director of “The Georgetown Project” Peter (Adam Goldberg, who played alongside Crowe in “A Beautiful Mind” and played supporting roles in excellent films such as “Zodiac” and “Saving Private Ryan”); the actor Joe, who will play the colleague of the head priest (Sam Worthington, “Avatar,” “Terminator Salvation,” “Wrath of the Titams,” “Everest”); the popular actress Blake, who will play the haunted girl in the film (Chloe Bailey, who is best known as a singer who formed a pop group with her sister); And Father Connor, a Catholic priest and psychiatrist who serves in the film as a religious advisor, or whatever it is (the excellent David Hyde Pierce, best remembered for playing Fraser’s younger brother in the series of the same name, which earned him many awards).
Anthony Miller turns out to be a not-so-successful choice for the role. He has trouble remembering his lines and plays the character in a way that mainly draws criticism and annoyance from the director and the rest of the set. The fact that, at a certain point, Miller starts acting strangely and creepy doesn’t exactly help. Miller is attacked by various clichés from exorcism films, such as nosebleeds, wandering around incoherently at night, speaking Latin sentences he probably learned in the metaphoric school of languages for demons, etc. At some point, Miller will take the horror tropes to a different level with other clichés from exorcism films, such as banging his head on a table. Fortunately, he didn’t throw up something green, pee on the set, or crawl down the stairs in a weird, upside-down manner.
The Mystery With No Mystery
At one point, “The Exorcism” tries to create a particular mystery. The characters try to ask whether Anthony Miller is losing his mind again and starting to imagine things due to alcohol, a poor mental state, or whatever, or whether this is something more unusual, let’s say a certain kind of possession happening on set.
In one of the better dialogues in the film, one of the characters reflexively refers to the fact that there are horror films that are supposedly cursed, some of which we have already written about on the site, such as the infamous “Poltergeist Curse.” So is the film or the set itself cursed, or is Anthony imagining everything? If you’ve seen the opening scene, you can understand where this is going.
The film takes itself too seriously, and when the result is not impressive, we get a film that is much less than mediocre. Of course, there are some references for exorcism movies now and then, but not at the level of “Easter eggs” that are cleverly woven in and make the result enjoyable, like in vampire films (“Abigail” or “The Invitation,” for example). We get a plot that looks pretty reflexive – Russell Crowe is an actor who plays an actor who plays a priest who a demon may possess, and at a certain point, the demon threatens to move to another actor who plays a priest who comes to the set to help the leading actor – but without justification for these choices, or humor, the result is quite messy. Anthony Miller’s character is not believable or likable enough for us to see him as a character on his own and not as Russell Crowe making (again!) a film about exorcism. It’s a risk that films that recruit such a big name for their cast have to deal with, but it’s also possible to get out of it.
Russell Crowe does his best, and he’s not the film’s problem, although the fact that we still see his character as “Russell Crowe” is problematic: a few frames of him might become future memes, especially in the second part of the film. The film features some imposing names in its cast, but it simply wastes most of them. Sam Worthington, for example, plays a relatively small and obscure role here.
The Exorcism Is A Dark Film, Not For The Right Reasons
“The Exorcism” was directed by Joshua John Miller. With his co-writer, M.A. Fortin, he wrote “The Final Girls,” an excellent and primarily self-aware horror comedy about a group of teenagers who accidentally get into a slasher film. The problem is that John Miller is not exactly an experienced director, and “The Exorcist” is his second film, after a relatively unknown film called “The Mao Game” from 1999. The most interesting fact, which probably shows that all exorcism films form a cinematic universe in which everything is connected more than the Marvel movies, is that Joshua John Miller is the son of Jason Miller, who played Father Damien Karras in “The Exorcist.”
I had some problems with the cinematic work of “The Exorcism,” and I’m probably not alone – if we are to rely on the film’s low score on the IMDB website (which stands at 4.2 out of 10, as of this writing), or the fact that the film grossed less than its budget. The film misses most of its scary scenes because something is always missing, and we get an almost tension-free cinema, which includes a few jumps that are far from effective in anything. In many cases, the frame is too dark, so you have to strain your eyes to try to see anything, including what is supposed to scare us: there were cases where I approached the screen with my phone’s flashlight, trying to see something, but I stopped because it seemed stupid to me. In other situations, the shots were too close. There were a few scenes whose editing seemed too fast to me, or the jump came at the wrong time. In short, you get the idea.
The script is interesting at times, especially when it comes to what is related to the behind-the-scenes of the making of a horror film. The problem is that there are too many plot holes or strange moments, some of which have to do with what happens after a central character jumps out of a window or gets hurt after banging her head on a table several times (ask Nicolas Cage in “Longlegs” what that can do to you). In the following scenes, it returns as if nothing happened, at least visually, and the others present react with equanimity to what they saw. Physically, the character doesn’t change too much, either. Apparently, “The Georgetown Project” has a very skilled makeup team and a specialist doctor on set.
These scenes seem gratuitous, a convention and another convention of exorcism films that we’ve already seen a thousand and one times, usually done more impressively. For example, every exorcism film requires at least one scene of jumping or falling out of a window, and “The Exorcism” doesn’t give up on the pleasure. In a world of private homes or without balconies, exorcism films probably couldn’t exist.
The Return Of The Woke?
The characters are plausible, but the main character didn’t get my sympathy: it was hard for me to separate him from Russell Crowe himself, and there were some failures in presenting his backstory, which in such a case should arouse sympathy.
Instead of scaring or creating atmosphere, the film tried to cram too many themes – the trauma from the past, the death of the wife, the addictions, the shaky relationship with the daughter, the decline in status in Hollywood – and as a result, I think it didn’t get anywhere. It’s possible that the original idea of the director (and one of the film’s writers) was interesting, a kind of attempt to combine some autobiographical elements of someone who grew up with a father who struggled to stay in the industry after his unforgettable role. The fact that the main character’s last name is Miller, like the director, is probably no coincidence.
The character of the rebellious daughter was interesting, even if the film sinned against the central and well-worn rule of horror films: a character who appears with short blonde hair in the first act will have a lesbian relationship in the third act. In 2024, she will also have a relationship with a black girl because it is relevant today! At some point, I was afraid she would kiss the annoying modern Snow White or have sex with the seven CGI miners from THAT terrible movie.
I am not belittling the importance of these issues and the right to present them on screen, but in this case, this addition to the plot was rather superficial and did not contribute anything. Even if the two young actresses managed, in the scenes in which they appeared on screen together or separately, to add some dynamics to the film, which is slow-paced.
In the end, the result is a reasonably short film (about 95 minutes) that feels longer than it is and includes some nice points but a lot of flaws on all levels. I wouldn’t rush to bury Crowe’s career, but there’s no doubt that “The Exorcism” is far from a positive point in his career.
Exclusive: The Exorcism Of Russell Crowe
With your permission, I would like to dedicate the last paragraphs of the review to a noble cause: a short exorcism for Russell Crowe. I have no problem with him continuing to make horror films because every superb actor making a horror film can be a blessing. However, I would be happy to have some variety in his roles and for films that would be more successful.
I have no idea when that demon entered him, but it must have happened in recent years. According to reports, filming for “The Exorcism” took place in November-December 2019, while additional filming was postponed due to the Covid crisis and was not done until 2023. It was not until January 2024 that the film completed post-production and hit theaters in June of that year in most of the world.
Since I have no idea how to conduct an exorcism ceremony (Idoesn’t believe in demons, and I studied film and communications at the University, not exorcism at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome), I turned to ChatGPT for help, and to my delight, he agreed.
This is what came out:
“In the name of the father, the son, and the lost career – go away, an evil spirit of B-grade horror films!
Russell Crowe, you were sent to us from the realms of “Gladiator” and “A Beautiful Mind,” why did you leave us in favor of dark plots and films that barely reach 30% on Rotten Tomatoes? CGI-hungry demons have seized you, but we are here to free you!
“The power of good cinema compels you!”
Quality cinema is crying out your name! A soundtrack by Hans Zimmer tries to break out but is suffocated under layers of a perforated script and cheap effects!
Russell, come back to us! Come back to powerful dramas! To historical epics! Even romantic comedies if there is no other choice! But by no means – not another horror film about a strict priest with a heavy accent who fights the devil with a cross and fatigue Chronic!
In the name of Ridley Scott, in the name of Peter Weir, and in the name of all the directors who have been good to you – we command you! Come out of the shadows and into the light of respectable movie theaters!
“This set is clear!”
Or at least – let’s hope your career will be soon.
Amen.
The Exorcism – Frequently Asked Questions
When was The Exorcism released? The official release date of the movie was June 21, 2024.
Is The Exorcism connected to The Pope’s Exorcist? Nope! They are both exorcism movies starring Russell Crowe, and the posters look alike, but that’s the only connection.
Who Directed The Exorcism? Joshua John Miller, who is known chiefly as a writer (“The Final Girls”, TV series “Queen of the South”) and even as an actor.
Who wrote The Exorcism? Joshua John Miller wrote the script with his life partner, M. A. Fortin.
Who Played in The Exorcism? Russell Crowe takes the leading role, while the cast includes Ryan Simpkins, Sam Worthington, David Hyde Pierce, Adam Goldberg, Chloe Bailey, and more.
How long is The Exorcism? The running time of the film is about 95 minutes.
Where was the movie produced? In the United States and Germany.
What language is spoken in The Exorcism? It is mostly English, but like any other exorcism movie, It has some sentences in Latin, the language of the demons.
What was the budget? The Exorcism budget is approx—$ 22 million.
How much did the movie gross? The Exorcism was mainly a failure, grossing only $12.5 million worldwide (according to Box Office Mojo). Still, it lost less than “Snow White”!
What is the film’s MPAA Rating (Parents Guide)? R, for language, some violent content, sexual references, and brief drug use.
What did the reviews say about The Exorcism? The reviews pretty much killed the movie. It has a score of 4.2 on IMDB. On Rotten Tomatoes (“Tomatometer”), only 27% of the critics gave it a positive review.
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