Due to its titular proximity, it’s basically impossible not to compare The Exorcism to The Exorcist. In fact, they’d make an undeniably fascinating double-bill, but this new horror starring Russell Crowe would definitely come off worse. There are some undeniably interesting ideas and juxtapositions in Joshua John Miller’s film, but the lack of connective narrative tissue leaves it feeling like a missed opportunity.
Russell Crowe plays Tony Miller, an actor plagued by past trauma and a fractured relationship with his daughter, Lee (an impressive Ryan Simpkins). After tragedy strikes he’s cast as a priest in a fictional horror film not far from William Friedkin’s classic, called The Georgetown Project. Of course, things go awry when Tony finds himself possessed by a demon and in need of an, ahem, exorcism.
It’s a premise that definitely has legs, and writer/director Joshua John Miller clearly has the genesis of a really good idea here. The Exorcism works best when it’s operating on a meta level, peering behind the curtain at film production in a fictionalised manner. It’s almost tongue-in-cheek at times with how ‘coincidentally’ the in-universe film’s events end up mirroring The Exorcism‘s narrative, which occasionally works to its detriment when things start to feel repetitive. If it leaned into this examination of film production and the goings-on of a movie set, it could’ve stood out more.
This is because, as a horror film, it’s hard for The Exorcism to really stand out. One thing the film soars at is its character work, anchored by strong lead performances from Crowe and Simpkins. It takes until the 30-minute mark until the indications of supernatural possession and horror creep in, and the first half works really well as a drama because of it. The script deftly examines the consequences of trauma and abuse, as well as the tensions between parent-child relationships, and it’s during these moments where the film has a strong identity.
Once things take a dive into the paranormal, it’s not quite as successful. None of the scares are especially effective, with it mostly amounting to your standard Insidious-style jumpscare fare. Russell Crowe is clearly relishing the chance to play an out-and-out baddie once the action gets going, but it’s all buoyed so poorly by a narrative that rarely gets going and barely has a story to tell in and of itself. There are a handful of scenes where The Exorcism attempts to explain its in-universe demons and the logic behind it, but by the time resolution does roll around it feels unearned as we were barely invested in the narrative in the first place.
Alongside that, it’s disappointing that to really get across how depraved the demonic possession is, the film resorts to trying to shock you. There’s one scene in particular laced with explicit sexual assault and homophobic slurs that’s clearly intended to rile audiences, but it’s just plain off-putting. It’s as if Miller has misinterpreted what made The Exorcist‘s most shocking moments tick—a skewing of religious iconography and commentary on what a loss of faith really means—and assumed being as offensive and depraved as possible will do the job. Considering the writer/director’s father is Jason Miller, most famous for playing Father Karras in The Exorcist, it’s especially baffling.
Most of all, though, it feels like The Exorcism would work far better as a straight-laced drama than its injection of horror. Since the scares lack punch and the paranormal elements themselves are undercooked, it should’ve leaned back into the character drama that actually works quite well. It feels like a film entirely at odds with itself, which isn’t a surprise given it was shot in 2019 and only went through reshoots and post-production in 2023 and 2024. The closing scene in particular is the most obviously ‘shoehorned into reshoots’ sequence I’ve ever seen, with rushed plot resolution and characters looking wildly different.
It’s a shame, because there’s the genesis of a really interesting film-about-a-film in The Exorcism. It just feels like it lazily and predictably leans into mainstream horror trappings when the much more interesting path to go down would’ve been the family drama at its core – especially given the caliber of the cast and the quality of the two leading performances. Instead, The Exorcism will go down as a missed opportunity.
★★½
The Exorcism is out now in cinemas.
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