EXORCISM, THE
(director/writer: Joshua John Miller; screenwriter: M.A. Fortin; cinematographer: Simon Duggan; editors: Matthew Woolley, Gardner Gould; music: Daniel Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans; cast: Russell Crowe (Anthony Miller), Ryan Simpkins (Lee Miller), Sam Worthington (Joe), Chloe Bailey (Blake Holloway), Adam Goldberg (Peter), David Hyde Pierce (Father Conor), Joshua John Miller (FX guy); Runtime: 93; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Kevin Williamson, Ben Fast, Bill Block; Vertical/Miramax; 2024)
“Atmospheric low-rent supernatural chiller.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Joshua John Miller (“The Mao Game”) directs and co-writes with M.A. Fortin this atmospheric low-rent supernatural chiller. It’s not linked to director William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973), though the director’s father, Jason Miller, starred in that classic horror movie as the doomed Father Karras.
Tony Miller (Russell Crowe) is a former alcoholic and disgraced actor, who is trying to survive by reforming while reconnecting with his estranged teenage daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins).
Tony plays Father Arlington, the exorcist priest in the fictional horror pic he’s starring in. It’s a remake of The Exorcist, titled The Georgetown Project, whose director is the volatile narcissist Peter (Adam Goldberg). The pic elicits Tony’s dark past–abused as an altar boy, wrestling throughout his life with his Catholic faith, and his alcoholism returning because of his reaction to the death of his ailing wife he abandoned.
Redemption on the part of Tony is the film’s most plausible theme, at this point.
The opening scenes do a fine job developing Tony’s character and strained relationship with his daughter. But he becomes possessed by the demon in The Georgetown Project, though feeling more vulnerable over his human mistakes.
By the third act the story becomes unbelievable as it abandons its character study in favor of a flimsy supernatural horror story. It also becomes a less compelling watch.
We’re left contemplating if Tony has relapsed into bad behavior or has become possessed. The answer is that he must undergo an exorcism by the third act.
The score by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans is eerie. But only the devilish performance by the once big star of the A pictures, Crowe, lifts the unremarkable B film into the possibility of reaching respectability.
REVIEWED ON 6/29/2024 GRADE: C+