The Exorcism

The Exorcism marks the second film featuring star Russell Crowe in an exorcism role within a year—the other being the fun and carefree The Pope's Exorcist. Here, however, Crowe isn't exactly an exorcist but an actor playing this common type of character in a horror film. Marked by filming delays, interrupted during the pandemic and resumed four years later, the feature attempts to play with the metanarrative of the proposal and how actors relate to their characters, making brief comments on how the stories they portray can seep into the lives of the actors themselves. It is far (very far!) from a perfect film, with a broken rhythm and a glaring lack of depth. However, it can still be entertaining—despite all the parental drama—to watch Russell Crowe once again portray this character battling demons.