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Blu-ray Review: THE POPE’S EXORCIST

Home » Blu-ray Review: THE POPE’S EXORCIST

Jun 14, 2023 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Father Gabriele Amorth has been the chief exorcist of the Vatican for the past year. Only about 2% of the cases he is called in to investigate actually end up involving evil forces, but despite his sometimes unorthodox methods, the priest is good at his job. In July 1987, Julia Vasquez (Alex Essoe) and her two children move from America to Castile, Spain. Julia’s husband died a year earlier in a horrible car accident, and she has just inherited San Sebastián Abbey, a property that had been in her husband’s family for decades. The abbey is in disrepair, and she plans to fix it up, sell it, and return home to America. Teenage daughter Amy (Laurel Marsden) isn’t thrilled about the move, and young son Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney), who was in the car with his father when he died, hasn’t spoken a word since the accident.

As the work crew is excavating the basement of the abbey, they seem to unleash something that has been trapped down there for centuries. Henry’s demeanor soon changes as he becomes possessed by an evil spirit. He even starts talking, though it’s an ominous warning to his family, that, “You’re all going to die”. Local priest, Father Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto), is unfamiliar with how to deal with these things, and even the demon inside Henry doesn’t seem to want to deal with such an amateur, instead calling for Father Gabriele. The Pope sends Father Gabriele to investigate the situation, and he soon determines that he is dealing with the real deal. This demon knows things about his past that it shouldn’t know, taunting him with “Beware, your sins will seek you out”. Removing Henry from the house could be fatal for the boy, and so only faith can save him now. Father Gabriele takes Father Esquibel under his wing, teaching him the exorcism rites as they try to figure out why this demon has chosen Henry, and what it wants. In order to excise the demon, they must figure out its name. But as the two investigate further, they soon discover that the abbey has a dark past, and that this demon wants to crumble their holy church from the inside, purposely targeting Father Gabriele in hopes of gaining access to the Pope.

The Pope’s Exorcist is one of the best, most engaging possession films I’ve seen in a while. Father Gabriele Amorth, who’s based on a real person, is not your typical hero. While he’s strong in his faith, he also has his flaws. But no matter what threats come his way, he has this way of remaining calm and matter of fact in his actions. He’s also a bit of a rebel, unapologetically doing things his own way, knowing that he only answers to the Pope, and not to the other bishops, who see him as a bit of a loose cannon. He is a formidable adversary to the forces of evil, knowing how they try to distract their prey and use their sins against them. But he is determined to not allow the devil to use the not-so-literal demons from his own past against him. Russell Crowe is fantastic in this role, blending both the charming rebel with the devout priest. There is also a bit of a buddy-cop vibe going on as Father Gabriele serves as a mentor to the younger, unexperienced priest who’s hiding some secrets of his own that the devil tries to use against him. Giving a truly haunting performance is Peter DeSouza-Feighoney, who in his first acting role, kills it as the possessed young boy. The voice and contortions in the the young actor’s performance are so creepy and sinister that you really feel like this boy has been fully taken over by evil.

The film is not just your typical priest trying to exorcise a possessed child story. There is also this underlying DaVinci Code-like mystery and conspiracy that the priests are trying to solve. While exploring the history of the abbey and unlocking its dark past and secrets, the priests discover something much larger at play. Saving this boy may not be as easy as Father Gabriele first thought. But he is still determined to do so, even if the enemy is more frightening than he imagined.

The film does a nice job of both telling not only a complete story, but also leaving things open for more adventures with Father Gabriele. We are told in the opening of the film that he served as Chief Exorcist of the Vatican from 1986-2016, so there are several more decades of stories to be told with this character and within this universe, and I would certainly welcome more.

Sony has released The Pope’s Exorcist on Blu-ray & DVD, but it is also available in 4K on Digital. I was sent the Blu-ray for review, which features a very clean, clear picture throughout, even in the darker sequences (this is a possession film, so there are many, especially since the demon gets more powerful at night, and is constantly cutting off the power in the abbey). The immersive audio track also really shines, helping to build the tension and frights. Early on we see that siblings Amy and Henry have this way of knocking on the walls to communicate with one another, but later we see how the the devil has coopted this for its own sinister means to lure the family members into his traps. As the demon starts to manipulate and attack the various residents of the abbey, the viewer is surrounded by the unsettling sounds coming from every direction. This soundscape adds so much to the haunting experience.

The Blu-ray disc comes in a standard HD keepcase, placed inside a glossy cardboard slipcover. An insert provides instructions on how to redeem an HD digital copy of the film. The bonus material consists of just 11 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes with the cast/crew.


What’s Included:

Film: (1:43:31)

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