The Exorcism (2024)
September 12, 2024 8:20 AM - Subscribe
[TRAILER] Anthony Miller (Russell Crowe) a once-acclaimed actor trying to work his way back, begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film, leading his estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) to wonder if he's slipping back into his past addictions or if there's something more sinister at play.
Also starring Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, Adrian Pasdar, David Hyde Pierce. Cinematography by Simon Duggan.
Directed by Joshua John Miller. Written by M. A. Fortin, Joshua John Miller. Produced by Kevin Williamson, Ben Fast, Bill Block for Miramax/Outer Banks.
Cinematography by Simon Duggan. Edited by Matthew Woolley. Music by Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans.
28% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently available for digital rental. JustWatch listing.
Also starring Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, Adrian Pasdar, David Hyde Pierce. Cinematography by Simon Duggan.
Directed by Joshua John Miller. Written by M. A. Fortin, Joshua John Miller. Produced by Kevin Williamson, Ben Fast, Bill Block for Miramax/Outer Banks.
Cinematography by Simon Duggan. Edited by Matthew Woolley. Music by Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans.
28% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently available for digital rental. JustWatch listing.
*the other one, meaning The People's Exorcist, which is stupid, but sort of fearlessly so and is fun in its silly way.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:48 AM on September 12, 2024
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:48 AM on September 12, 2024
Thoroughly agree, DoT (but I think you mean The Pope's Exorcist, which is for all its failings at least fun, in a bonkers scenery-chewing way).
From the open with Adrian Pasdar to about the halfway mark, I was genuinely a bit intrigued and curious. Crowe playing an over-the-hill, overweight, past-his-sell-date actor with deep regrets? Intrigued. How can you tell possession from deep mental distress? Intrigued. Portrait of a desperate man with deep underpinnings of mental unrest maybe possessing himself? Intrigued.
Nah. They just poop all over that from a great height in the back half, and it turns into a rote, even subpar, possession thing. Boo.
posted by Shepherd at 12:05 PM on September 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
From the open with Adrian Pasdar to about the halfway mark, I was genuinely a bit intrigued and curious. Crowe playing an over-the-hill, overweight, past-his-sell-date actor with deep regrets? Intrigued. How can you tell possession from deep mental distress? Intrigued. Portrait of a desperate man with deep underpinnings of mental unrest maybe possessing himself? Intrigued.
Nah. They just poop all over that from a great height in the back half, and it turns into a rote, even subpar, possession thing. Boo.
posted by Shepherd at 12:05 PM on September 12, 2024 [3 favorites]
I did mean the Pope's Exorcist. I really have to start paying more attention to autocorrect.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:11 PM on September 12, 2024
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:11 PM on September 12, 2024
Yeah, exorcism movies are not usually my favorites because I find them even more predictable than slashers, but this kind of took the cake for low-effort trope movies for me.
It really felt like they forgot to include most of the connecting plot in between the third act and the fourth act, and it's suddenly just about some demons coming in to inexplicably ruin a Hollywood potboiler. All of the Russell Crowe struggling-actor-dad stuff, which was previously the most interesting part of the movie, is just suddenly dumped on the floor in favor of some questionably spooky antics. They got some good mileage out of the inherent creepiness of an empty sound stage set, but the writing ultimately ruined this one for me.
posted by whir at 9:28 PM on September 12, 2024
It really felt like they forgot to include most of the connecting plot in between the third act and the fourth act, and it's suddenly just about some demons coming in to inexplicably ruin a Hollywood potboiler. All of the Russell Crowe struggling-actor-dad stuff, which was previously the most interesting part of the movie, is just suddenly dumped on the floor in favor of some questionably spooky antics. They got some good mileage out of the inherent creepiness of an empty sound stage set, but the writing ultimately ruined this one for me.
posted by whir at 9:28 PM on September 12, 2024
Pope's Exorcist was easily my most favourite Russell Crowe film of all time. The audacity of the end sequence "oh there are 500 other cases" (or whatever ludicrous number) was breathtaking. I'm really wanting to see this but the heights of having Franco Nero as pope is unlikely to be ever equalled. But I do like the premise.
posted by Ashwagandha at 7:42 AM on September 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
posted by Ashwagandha at 7:42 AM on September 13, 2024 [2 favorites]
Pope's Exorcist was easily my most favourite Russell Crowe film of all time. The audacity of the end sequence "oh there are 500 other cases" (or whatever ludicrous number) was breathtaking.
The Pope's Exorcist was amazingly ridiculous and ridiculously fun. If you had told me and Shepherd we'd still be getting jokey mileage out of it all these months later, I would not have believed you. But in our house the phrase "You take-a it up-a with my boss, Da Pope!" is well-used.
posted by Kitteh at 9:24 AM on September 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
The Pope's Exorcist was amazingly ridiculous and ridiculously fun. If you had told me and Shepherd we'd still be getting jokey mileage out of it all these months later, I would not have believed you. But in our house the phrase "You take-a it up-a with my boss, Da Pope!" is well-used.
posted by Kitteh at 9:24 AM on September 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
I had a lot to say when I loaded this thread up, but all I really want to say now is The People's Exorcist. Okay.
I saw that apparently this was shelved mid-production for years because of the pandemic, and I have a feeling therein lies the issue. My guess is that whoever funded the back half wanted something a little more...well, shitty, but I'm sure they thought they had some good ideas. They didn't.
The first half of this is very good in a Berberian Sound Studio metahorror not-really-horror-horror-adjacent way, and I think it probably should have been a drama with, at most, horror elements. The straight up horror half was sheer bullshit. I feel sorry for everyone involved, because you can feel a good film turning into bullshit against the best efforts of the creators. It's sad to see.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:05 PM on October 30, 2024 [2 favorites]
I saw that apparently this was shelved mid-production for years because of the pandemic, and I have a feeling therein lies the issue. My guess is that whoever funded the back half wanted something a little more...well, shitty, but I'm sure they thought they had some good ideas. They didn't.
The first half of this is very good in a Berberian Sound Studio metahorror not-really-horror-horror-adjacent way, and I think it probably should have been a drama with, at most, horror elements. The straight up horror half was sheer bullshit. I feel sorry for everyone involved, because you can feel a good film turning into bullshit against the best efforts of the creators. It's sad to see.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:05 PM on October 30, 2024 [2 favorites]
The first half of this is very good in a Berberian Sound Studio metahorror not-really-horror-horror-adjacent way
Yeah, totally. The horror movie inside the movie as a metaphor for the Crowe character's fears about his career fading out, his alcoholism, and his inability to connect with his daughter was way more interesting and engaging than the paint-by-numbers horror movie as an actual horror movie.
posted by whir at 8:43 AM on November 3, 2024
Yeah, totally. The horror movie inside the movie as a metaphor for the Crowe character's fears about his career fading out, his alcoholism, and his inability to connect with his daughter was way more interesting and engaging than the paint-by-numbers horror movie as an actual horror movie.
posted by whir at 8:43 AM on November 3, 2024
It's never unclear when a horror movie is made by someone who does not actually like horror movies.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:09 AM on November 3, 2024
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:09 AM on November 3, 2024
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The meta set-up for this (an exorcism movie draws in an actual demon; the highly damaged/flawed/faithless man playing the priest ends up the target of the possession) is actually fairly interesting. It falls apart within the first act though because it uses the exact same tired book of possession/exorcism tricks as basically every other movie in the genre since The Exorcist and the interesting framing around the edges isn't nearly enough to save it.
At this point, the book of standard exorcism beats is about as overused a set of horror tropes as even exists in 2024. It needs to be completely reinvented or completely abandoned.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:25 AM on September 12, 2024 [1 favorite]