The Exorcist was a film that redefined the horror genre, and sparked a whole slew of exorcism themed movies that still exist to this day. It's impact was so felt that any movie released even fifty years later that touches upon exorcisms and demonic possession will invariably be compared to; hell, it's the first thing I've spoken about here. The Exorcism, Russell Crowe's second exorcist movie in a year, This time however, he's not actually playing a priest, he's playing a man playing a priest in a film.
The Exorcism opens with a monologue about how a man has lost his faith, a speech which very quickly proves to be lacking any real conviction, as we see a man reading from a script. Stepping out of a car, he walks up to a house, whilst reading lines and stage directions from the script in his hand, and enters the home. Walking through the house, he ascends the floors until he reaches the third floor bedroom. At this point the camera pulls back to reveal a life sized doll house in one of the more interesting shots in the film. Our film as begun within the soundstage of a movie, and we're following an actor as he practices for his role as a priest called in to exorcise a teenage girl. However, some unseen force quickly dispatches him, leaving his role open for a recast.
From here we meet Anthony Miller (Russell Crowe) and his teenage daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins). Anthony is a washed up actor, a man who lost it all after his wife died of cancer and he retreated into drink and drug addiction. With his career and reputation all but ruined, he's trying to find a way to claw it back, whilst also doing his best to repair his strained relationship with Lee. This sees Anthony audition for the role of Father Anthony on 'The Georgetown Project', a movie clearly influenced by, or possibly being a remake of, The Exorcist. Fighting through a tough audition that sees director Peter (Adam Goldberg) getting Anthony to push deep and draw upon his own history of trauma, Anthony gets the part that he hopes will reignite his career. However, not long after getting the role Anthony starts to undergo a change, one that Lee thinks may be more than a slip back into addiction, and may involve otherworldly forces.
There's a lot to The Exorcism to like, but there's also an equal amount of the film that feels somewhat frustrating as it never fully explores or commits to most of the ideas it presents. The first of these is the film within the film. I loved the meta angle of The Exorcism, and the exploration of the making of the movie. The film makes mention of how some movies in the genre have had troubled productions in the past, the idea that they attract bad things to it. This feels like a clear reference to the original Exorcist, and is a perfect cover for the people working on The Georgetown Project to dismiss the paranormal incidents, or to lean into their belief that dark forces are at work. The fact that we also see special effects artists making an animatronic head that can spin around, and the basic plot seeming to mirror The Exorcist makes it feel like this is a film about a remake movie. However, it's never outright said that that's what we're seeing. It's likely a rights issue, but the failure to commit fully to it does feel like a wrinkle in the narrative.
This is something that I felt throughout the film, a failure to fully invest in the ideas that are presented. Anthony is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, and this has damaged his relationship with his daughter. This addiction is used throughout the movie, as Anthony begins drinking again. But we're not shown his fall back into addiction, we just have other characters talking about how he's drunk, then we see him downing a bottle of whiskey. The moment of his relapse, of this man desperate to put his life back together and failing is an important one, but we don't get it.
Similarly, there's mention of childhood trauma around the church, with Peter making the implication that Anthony was abused by a priest. This seems to be a root cause of a lot of issues for him in the film, especially in playing a priest, yet we never really explore this past. There are flashbacks scattered throughout the film that hint that perhaps the abuse was less sexual in nature, and some kind of dark, satanic type incident, which opens a whole load of questions about his possession here and if the seeds were laid for it decades before. But again, the film doesn't explore this angle. Both Anthony's alcoholism and his childhood abuse are huge parts of the story, but neither of them feel like they're given the appropriate time or space to really matter.
Despite this, Crowe seems to do his best to deliver a layered performance to his character, and the earlier moments in the film where he's back drinking, sleepwalking around his apartment, and speaking in bizarre, broken Latin are great as you question whether or not this is the sign of the supernatural, or the mental breakdown of an incredibly broken and traumatised man. If it wasn't for the opening scene involving a clearly otherworldly force you could very much go through a lot of the film wondering if it was going to be a real possession or not.
Ryan Simpkins, the film's secondary protagonist, manages to match Crowe's performance well, shifting from the indignant, rebellious daughter to a more caring role as she witnesses her fathers deterioration. She's the only person who seems to care for him, with others relegating him to the 'pathetic drunk' category. Simpkins, however, pushes the narrative forwards, and tries to do what she can to help Anthony. She gets help from The Georgetown Project's young star, Blake Holloway (Chloe Bailey), with whom a strong relationship begins to form, and the movie's religious advisor, Father Conor (David Hype Pierce), who comes to believe that a true evil is taking over Anthony.
Despite the decent performances the film failed to really grab my attention. The plot felt mostly predictable, with the expected journey playing out without much depth or even any innovation. The film felt lacking for most of it's runtime, even if I couldn't really place my finger on what. Perhaps the film would have been more interesting if it explored the film within a film more, or if it showed more of Anthony's journey, or if it gave more definitive answers. As it is, The Exorcism feels like it's trying to do several things at the same time, and as such doesn't have the time to fully commit to any of them. Shallow would perhaps be the best word to describe it.
Whilst there's nothing obviously bad about the film that makes it unworthy of a higher score there's nothing about it that stands out as particularly memorable and I honestly can't see myself thinking about this film at all in the future; except perhaps the occasional memory of Niles Crane trying to get a demon out of Russell Crowe whenever my mind goes to Frasier. The Exorcism has some interesting ideas, but don't expect them to really pay any of them off. Not a bad way to spend an hour and half, but there are much better ones too.
The Exorcism is released in cinemas 21st June 2024.
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