The Exorcism (2024) Vertical/Horror RT: 93 minutes Rated R (language, some violent content, sexual references, brief sexual content) Director: Joshua John Miller Screenplay: M.A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller Music: Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans Cinematography: Simon Duggan Release date: June 21, 2024 (US) Cast: Russell Crowe, Ryan Simpkins, Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg, Adrian Pasdar, David Hyde Pierce, Samantha Mathis, Marcenae Lynette, Tracey Bonner.
Rating: *
Let’s clear this up once and for all. The new horror movie The Exorcism is not, I repeat NOT, a sequel to last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist. It’s true both demonic possession thrillers star Russell Crowe, but he doesn’t play a priest in the new film. Instead, he plays an actor playing a priest in a demonic possession thriller. There’s another big difference. The Pope’s Exorcist is a good movie. The Exorcism is NOT. It commits the one sin for which a horror movie cannot be absolved, it’s boring.
Crowe plays Tony Miller, a washed-up actor and recovering addict trying to make a comeback after an extended bender following his late wife’s cancer diagnosis. It didn’t just cost him his professional reputation; it also caused him to become estranged from his rebellious teen daughter Lee (Simpkins, Fear Street 1-2) who just moved back in with him after getting kicked out of school. She’s still angry at her dad for not being there when his family needed him most. He, in turn, still feels tremendous guilt.
Tony gets the part after the actor originally set to play the role dies in a mysterious on-set accident. It’s a horror picture entitled The Georgetown Project. Fans of a certain DP horror flick will instantly know why the title’s significant. They’ll also see that it’s a total rip-off of said DP film.
Naturally, things do not go smoothly for Tony, on set and off. The director (Goldberg, Dazed and Confused), a temperamental type who cares more about his vision than the people helping him to realize it, isn’t at all satisfied with his efforts. The actor starts to deteriorate mentally, not that he was all that stable to begin with. His behavior becomes increasingly erratic. He walks around in a daze and is prone to violent fits of anger and self-harm. He also mutters to himself in Latin. What could possibly be ailing Tony? Is he finally being forced to confront his own personal demons or real ones? I think we all know the answer to that one.
I understand that director Joshua John Miller (the son of Exorcist star Jason Miller) is going for something more cerebral with The Exorcism. That itself is admirable. The problem is that it’s not all that interesting. In fact, it’s not interesting at all. That’s disappointing because it had potential. At one point, a character mentions how certain horror movies (e.g. Poltergeist, The Omen and, of course, The Exorcist) appear to be cursed. Miller should have taken the idea and run with it. That would have made for compelling viewing. Instead, he opts for a slow think piece that’s sure to turn off fans of the genre.
Pacing isn’t the movie’s only problem. The screenplay by Miller and M.A. Fortin is one of those half-assed deals that pad the run time with underdeveloped characters like the co-star (Worthington, Avatar) just waiting for his opportunity to steal the lead from Tony and subplots like the romance between Lee and the movie-within-the-movie’s female lead Blake (R&B singer Bailey). These things are pointless like most of everything in The Exorcism.
To answer a question I’m sure nobody has, there is an exorcism at the end of The Exorcism. It’s performed by one Father Conor (Pierce, Frasier) who takes a page from the Book of Father Karras in dealing with the problem. This sequence is only slightly more interesting that everything that precedes it.
Crowe, at one time, was one of the hottest actors in the industry. He starred in some great ones- e.g. L.A. Confidential, The Insider, Gladiator (for which he won an Oscar) and A Beautiful Mind. Now he’s something of a joke. I can’t take him seriously anymore. Simpkins fares a little better as the daughter forced to assume the role of parent and caretaker. The rest of the cast might as well have phoned it in for all they bring to the film. That is, except for Pierce who seems to be having a little fun with his underwritten role.
It took a while for The Exorcism to see the inside of multiplexes. It wrapped right before the pandemic hit in early 2020. The makers had to wait until last year to put the finishing touches on it. Post-production wasn’t completed until this past January. That never bodes well for a film. The studio barely promoted it in the weeks leading to its release. It seems like they’re not expecting it to do any business. I’m surprised they didn’t delay its release until next January. It’s exactly the kind of horror movie that comes out in the dead period right after the holidays.
In short, The Exorcism is an unholy bore. Everybody involved should be made to do penance for this mortal sin against the horror genre and cinema in general.
