The Pope’s Exorcist, which stars Russell Crowe as an Italian priest, is silly and ridiculous and perfectly aware of how to sell that, so when the movie teases 199 sequels, it deserves every last one of them.
There are few things better than a well-made horror movie that knows exactly how silly it should be, which is why The Pope’s Exorcist absolutely rules. Yes, the movie where Russell Crowe plays an Italian exorcist who reports directly to the pope himself is a blast. A silly movie that’s Actually Good (versus Ironically Fun) is awfully hard to find, so when Crowe’s character saves the day and then is told that there are 199 other exorcisms for him to perform to save the world, I lit up. We should all pray that each and every possession gets its own film.
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At this point, a tease for sequels and a broader universe of world-threatening demons reeks of franchising and big IP. But for The Pope’s Exorcist, it feels more like the light world-building of the John Wick franchise, constantly expanding its borders and letting you know that there’s more out there than our hero encountered this time around. And in the case of Crowe’s Father Gabriele Amorth, the things he’ll encounter just happen to be servants of Satan and denizens of hell sent to fight God and make the world a slightly more evil place.
