Russell Crowe’s The Pope’s Exorcist Is Being Denounced By Actual Exorcists
The International Association of Exorcists has denounced Russell Crowe's new movie, The Pope's Exorcist.
Russell Crowe’s new movie, The Pope’s Exorcist, has officially been condemned by members of the Vatican. According to The Guardian, the Broken City actor’s portrayal of an exorcist is offensive to the real-life practitioners who actually work as demon and angry spirit expellers for the Pope.
According to the movie posters, The Pope’s Exorcist was inspired by the private files of the very real Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, Father Gabriele Amorth. In the movie, Russell Crowe plays Amorth and is investigating the ghostly possession of a young boy. During his investigation, Amorth uncovers an ancient conspiracy that the Vatican has desperately tried to keep secret.
It seems that The Pope’s Exorcist’s depiction of this conspiracy is what struck a chord with the International Association of Exorcists (IAE), who say that the story is completely false and could lead to doubt in the minds of movie watchers of who the real enemy is—the devil or the Pope? Additionally, the IAE claims that the title of Russell Crowe’s newest film is “pretentious.”
The IAE believes that The Pope’s Exorcist is a plot to sabotage the IAE by convincing the public that “exorcism is an abnormal, monstrous, and frightening phenomenon” and that the supernatural act supports the devil rather than fights him, which is what the IAE insists they do. In the trailer for the movie (which, by the way, is all that the IAE have seen at this point in time), Russell Crowe is seen enraging groups of clergy with his spitfire and eccentric approach to exorcism before the film ultimately ends in a battle of good and evil between Amorth and the evil being trapped inside the boy he’s attempting to save.
The real Amorth, that Russell Crowe’s The Pope’s Exorcist character is based on, was an antifascist during World War II who died in 2016. The Julius Avery-directed film claims to be based on Amorth’s own files, which depicted more than 60,000 exorcisms the priest performed in his lifetime. In addition to being a devoted exorcist, Amorth was also a big fan of movies and became close and personal friends with William Friedkin, the man who directed Amorth’s favorite movie, The Exorcist.
Since Amorth is not around anymore, it’s difficult to know what he would have thought of Russell Crowe’s new movie that was inspired by his life, but Dr. Joseph Laycock, assistant professor of religious studies at Texas State University and author of The Penguin Book of Exorcisms doesn’t believe he’d be as upset at The Pope’s Exorist as the IAE is now, despite the fact that Amorth helped develop the IAE in 1994.
“I think they are fully aware they’ve benefited immensely from films like The Exorcist and the general interest in exorcism that horror movies have created in the public,” Laycock said, going on to say that being upset at Russell Crowe’s The Pope’s Exorcist is like “biting the hand that feeds them.”
The Pope’s Exorcist is not the first time that Russell Crowe has gotten in trouble with the Vatican over a movie he’s been in. In 2014’s Noah (also starring Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Jennifer Connelly, and Anthony Hopkins), the Vatican labeled the film a “missed opportunity” since the movie never mentioned “God” instead calling the big man in the sky, “The Creator.”
The Pope’s Exorcist has already been released in India but will come out internationally on April 14. The IAE has promised to comment again once they have seen Russell Crowe’s entire performance.
