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«The Pope's Exorcist» (2023)
Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's top Exorcist, delves into a case of suspected possession of a boy, leading him to uncover a long-kept conspiracy that the Vatican had kept concealed from the public eye.
The Pope's Exorcist is based on the demon encounters of Catholic priest Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's chief exorcist from 1986 until his death in 2016. Along with five other priests in 1990, he founded the International Association of Exorcists.
Starring Russell Crowe, the movie also draws inspiration from The Exorcist, featuring scenes of a child bound to a bed, objects moving on their own, priests brandishing crosses, and levitation. It's worth noting that William Friedkin, the director of The Exorcist, produced a documentary on Father Amorth in 2017, a year after his passing in 2016.
«The Pope's Exorcist» Plot | Spoiler alert
In 1987, Father Gabriele Amorth, the Pope's personal exorcist, visits an Italian village where a man is seemingly possessed by a demon. Amorth enters the room where the man is tied up. While exorcising him, Amorth taunts the demon, challenging it to possess a pig; when it does, the pig is killed with a shotgun.
This incident gets Amorth in trouble with a Church tribunal, since he acted without permission from superiors. One tribunal member is a friendly African Bishop, Lumumba, but another is a vicious American Cardinal, Sullivan, skeptical of demonic possession.
The Pope assigns Amorth to visit a possessed boy named Henry in Spain. Henry, his mother Julia, and his rebellious teenage sister Amy had traveled from America to take possession of an old abbey, Julia's husband's sole bequest to his family after he died in a car accident where Henry was present. The traumatized Henry has not spoken since the accident.
The men working on the abbey cause an explosion that injures them. Something sinister appears to be awoken from there, as Henry begins to have a seizure, which Julia and Amy witness. Henry then speaks for the first time since the accident, but he tells his mother and sister that they will die before he claws at his own face.
Amorth meets Julia, Amy and local Father Esquibel. Amorth goes to see Henry, and speaks to the demon. It taunts Amorth and says it hopes to take on the challenge of possessing an exorcist. The demon then makes Henry regurgitate a dead bird. Amorth finds himself genuinely disturbed by the entity.
Amorth enlists Esquibel as an assistant, though Esquibel is untrained as an exorcist. Amorth advocates the importance of prayer, though Esquibel makes mistakes as an assistant exorcist, including strangling Henry when Henry antagonizes him, mocking him for his sins.
In Rome, the Pope becomes ill while reading documents about the Spanish case and is hospitalized. Amorth finds a well on the abbey grounds going down to a complex sealed off by the Church as demonically dangerous.
He learns that a founder of the Spanish Inquisition, an exorcist, was possessed, which let him infiltrate the Church and do many evils. Amorth also finds the Church covered this up and eventually discovers the name of Henry's demon, Asmodeus, which will assist the exorcism.
Amorth and Esquibel participate in the sacrament of Confession and Absolution, mutually confessing and absolving each other of their sins. After Amorth survived World War II and vowed to serve God in gratitude, a mentally-ill woman asked for Amorth's help, and died by suicide when he did not help her due to pride; and Esquibel fornicated with a young woman he did not later marry. During the exorcism, they have horrible visions of the women whom they failed.
The exorcism succeeds only when Amorth offers himself to be possessed. Amorth attempts to hang himself to get rid of the demon, but the demon doesn't allow it. Asmodeus forces Amorth back down to the catacombs, where Esquibel finds Amorth and begs him to fight the demon's influence. Esquibel throws Amorth a cross, and together, they drive Asmodeus into a black pit where the demon is sent back to Hell.
The triumphant duo visit Rome and find Sullivan has taken leave in Guam, being replaced by Lumumba. Amorth and Esquibel are admitted to a special Church archive. Lumumba tells them they are being sent to other sites of demonic possession to combat the Devil's work. Amorth tells Esquibel «We're going to Hell.»
Best quotes from «The Pope's Exorcist» movie
The film is not only a proposal of exorcisms and terror, but it wants to show that Satan's greatest achievement is to make people believe that he no longer exists. Demons are real. Satan is real, although he is a master of deception and the father of lies (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:14).
Father Amorth to Bishop Lumumba: «Why do you think St. Michael did not kill Satan when he had the chance?»
Bishop Lumumba: «Perhaps it was his mercy that stayed Saint Michael's sword.»
Father Amorth: «The only thing that arrests God's love is a person's freedom to choose. But God cannot be God unless he allows for this choice, even for the damned.»
Father Amorth: «Saint Michael, he knows this. We will all be judged. We will all be judged by how much we love.»
Bishop Lumumba: «Do not worry, Gabriele. I will defend you.»
Father Amorth: «Defend me? My faith does not require defense.»
The film affirms the devil's existence and his plots throughout history. We know the demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psychological and powerful. So don't listen to him. When the demon Asmodeus who possessed the child said: «God is not here.» Father Amorth replied: «God is everywhere.»
The film shows the personal struggle of the two priests who are taking part in the exorcism, the struggle for redemption from their own guilt. The devil tempts them with the vision of their sins so that they fall into despair against the mercy of God. When the youngest father, Esquibel, finds Father Amorth, he sees that he is being possessed by the devil, so he gives him encouragement and strength to free himself, telling him: «Listen to me. Fight it. It's just in your head. We can only be defeated by ourselves.»
On one occasion, an American priest asked priest Gabriele Amorth if he was afraid of Satan. To which he replied: «I am not the one who is afraid of him. He should be afraid of me and all those who live in Jesus Christ.»
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