Russell Crowe is having a moment with horror. Last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist managed to find an audience, thanks in large part to Crowe’s over the top yet throughly entertaining performance as Father Gabriele Amorth. The film’s decent success in theatres and larger response via streaming has led to the announcement that a sequel is in development.
Hot on the heels of that news comes the release of another Crowe horror film. Based on its title alone, it’s clear that The Exorcism is dealing with similar subject matter; however, Crowe’s role as Anthony Miller is markedly different than what he delivered in The Pope’s Exorcist.
In The Exorcism, Crowe’s Miller is a famous actor struggling with addiction and the death of his wife. His daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins) is distant, only ever referring to her father by his first name. Following the death of the lead actor in The Georgetown Project, a film that’s hinted at though never explicitly stated to be a remake of 1973’s The Exorcist, Miller is cast as the film’s exorcist. It’s an opportunity to reboot his career, but almost immediately Miller begins acting erratic. Is it his addictions, or something more supernatural?
From a behind the scenes perspective, The Exorcism has some very interesting clout to it. Besides being produced by Scream creator Kevin Williamson, the film was co-written and directed by Joshua John Miller, whose father Jason Miller played the role of Father Damien Karras in the original The Exorcist (1973) along with its second sequel, 1990’s The Exorcist III. It’s hard not to wonder just how much impact that relationship had on the younger Miller’s creation of his own film.
Any connection to The Exorcist is going to insure a film some critical eyeballs; just ask the team that green lit the less than satisfying The Exorcist: Believer, a critical and commercial failure when it hit theatres last year. While The Exorcism is not explicitly tied to that franchise, with its title and creative pedigree, comparisons are inevitable. And while The Exorcism doesn’t remotely come close to matching the enduring scares and impact of The Exorcist, it does feature an exceptionally strong performance from Russell Crowe, who is never less than captivating when he’s on screen.
His is not the only strong performance, though. Ryan Simpkins holds her own against the Oscar-winner as his daughter, while David Hyde-Pierce also shines in his understated role as a priest working as an onsite advisor for the film being made.
Overall, The Exorcism doesn’t break any ground whatsoever, and won’t make your head spin, but it’s worth watching for yet another entertaining Russell Crowe performance.
The Exorcism is in theatres now.
