I hesitate to call this ‘a review’ of The Pope’s Exorcist! A commentary, perhaps?
The Exorcist 1973
I must preface comments by saying that I hate horror movies. I almost stopped viewing this one when the gore showed up…‘in vivid Technicolour!’ (Like many of my generation, I was permanently scarred by the original 1973 movie, The Exorcist!)
Do I recommend The Pope’s Exorcist for Catholic viewing? Hell NO!
Pun intended!
The main reason is the lurid, hyperbolic and macabre approach which misrepresents the victims, the evils involved, the exorcists and exorcism in general. More later!
As noted by Brad Miner (The Catholic Thing) “Satan is real. . .and really dangerous.” He quotes C.S. Lewis from the preface to The Screwtape Letters:
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves (the devils) are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.” [C.S.Lewis]
If you plan to watch it, remember that it is R-Rated and for adults only. This is not family fare. (I would say it is for mature adults only…but a mature people will watch something uplifting!)
“Our sins will seek us out…”
The main point I liked is the film’s healthy-(ish) approach to SIN. They portrayed a recognition of sin; how it eats our souls; how it leaves us vulnerable to much worse and how we need the sacrament of Reconciliation / Confession to be made whole.
Perhaps those more qualified than I should comment about the technicalities shown about Reconciliation in the movie. I have questions about how they portrayed Fr. Amorth’s absolution of Fr. Esquibel without him confessing any sin, nor being given penance, nor any penance being completed! (which I thought must occur for sin to be erased, barring impending death.)
Then, later in the movie, Fr. Amorth re-confesses a previously absolved sin. Wut??
The positive theme is that the film acknowledges that all humans are frail — even priests — that we all sin, and when we do not take care of our sins, they will “seek us out” and cause our down-fall.
People
The film is a fictionalized tale about the late Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth who was an exorcist for the Diocese of Rome for many years. His role is played fairly well by Russell Crowe allowing for the beard (Amorth was clean-shaven!) and accent! I watched it because of Crowe! Are you not entertained??
The executive producer of the movie was Jesuit Father Edward J. Siebert, the president of Loyola Productions and rector of the Jesuit community at Loyola Marymount University. Siebert commented that “The writers and director took creative liberty to visualize internal struggles as external events.” (“Creative liberty”…No sh*t!)
The International Association of Exorcists
https://www.aieinternational.org/
The International Association of Exorcists —yes there is such an organization! — which was co-founded by Father Amorth, released a statement based on the trailer suggesting that it was going to be:
a “splatter film”…YUP!
heavy on “exaggeration”…YUP! &
“unreliability on such a sensitive and relevant subject”…YUP!
They noted that such representations make exorcism “a spectacle aimed at inspiring strong and unhealthy emotions, thanks to a gloomy scenography, with sound effects such as to inspire only anxiety, restlessness, and fear in the viewer.”
“The end result is to instill the conviction that exorcism is an abnormal, monstrous, and frightening phenomenon, whose only protagonist is the devil, whose violent reactions can be faced with great difficulty,” said the exorcist group. “This is the exact opposite of what occurs in the context of exorcism celebrated in the Catholic Church in obedience to the directives imparted by it.”
Excessive belief in the Devil
For some time I have been puzzled by the West’s lack of belief in God yet the overwhelming belief in the Devil/Satan, evil spirits, etc. As the IAE noted:
We can all see how successive cinematography, with the dissemination of products of dubious morality, feeds an unhealthy curiosity about the preternatural; and this is often due to a lack of balance on the part of those who, instead, should be “models of the flock” (1 Pet 5:3).
They provide extra guidance, HERE and HERE.
Sadly, the film (like most in this genre) loses credibility because they portray the devil as being of equal power to our God and Lord.
Children
They frequently cast children in these roles.
How can a child be involved in such scenes and not be damaged permanently?
Vatican
Much like “Conclave”, they portray elements in the Vatican as being the second villain. There are other tropes such as the Vatican’s hidden chambers filled with nuns and priests and weird statues.
Gaffes (one tiny spoiler!)
Russell Crowe as Amorth on the Lambretta 150
Even I noticed how one minute Fr. Amorth is talking to the Pope in Rome and the next, he is arriving near Burgos in northern Spain on his Lambretta motor scooter — a trip of almost 1,200 miles!
Persuming the real Fr. Amorth did not have Russell Crowe’s current girth, he would have to manage an average speed of 40mph and the journey would take over 30 hours!
(The Lambretta was produced till 1972 and had 2 stroke engines with 3 or 4 gears and capacity ranging from 49 cc to 198 cc.
The version in the movie is apparently the 150cc Lambretta Serveta Li 150 Special (with Ferrari decal and Guinness fridge magnet!)
The top speed was 58 mph (93 km/h)!)
Secondly, the Latin phrase in the ancient tome read by Amorth and the Pope: “Peccata tua inveniente tu” does not translate to “Our sins will seek us out”! (There are real nerds out there!)
Sequels — We are definitely going to Hell!
Much like Netflix’s Mary, The Pope’s Exorcist is an action movie, but this one has a horror-splatter twist. Not to my taste!
As Part I has been a financial success, Part II is approved. At the end of part I, Amorth and Esquibel are shown a map and tasked with tracking down the other 199 dark angels whom had ‘fallen’ to earth! Amorth/Crowe wryly comments on the task saying “Let’s go to Hell.”
If we have 199 sequels it will sure feel like it!
Dr. Kevin Hay
You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 (Twitter) @ kevinhay77