Russell Crowe stars as an actor who is either possessed or in the grips of a relapse into addiction in The Exorcism.
The Exorcism is not what you think it is. As much as it is horror it is steeped in family drama. It makes sense that writer/director Joshua John Miller is the son of The Exorcist star Jason Miller. Meant to invoke his father’s legacy as much as he’s attempting to wrestle with it The Exorcism is the rarest of horror films where the drama and the supernatural comingle.
Actor Anthony Miller (Russell Crowe) is getting a second chance after bouts with addiction and instability that all but ruined his superstar career. This second chance comes in the form of a possession horror film. The second chance comes as his college-aged daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins) is expelled from her university after a protest she was involved with turned violent. Anthony finds the film set run by a narcissist of a director (Adam Goldberg in rare form), his co-star a fanboy of his earlier work (Sam Worthington), and a Priest now “consultant” (David Hyde Pierce). As tensions mount and Anthony’s skills as an actor come into question something dark and unrelentingly evil seems to have taken grips in the actor’s very soul. The only ones who appear to have seen this are Lee, Anthony’s young co-star Blake (Chole Bailey), and the Priest. Is it a relapse into addiction or something more demonic that wrestles in Anthony’s soul.
It is rare to have such a raw and searing drama within the horror genre. One with as much adept skill as The Exorcism has. Writer/Director Miller has made a film that is the ultimate valentine to not just his father’s legacy but the totem that is The Exorcist. The film is keenly aware of that legacy and the making of the film – which it expertly subverts. The sets within the film, the crass tasteless way the director pushes his actors, lack of faith in the actors, all feel like Roman clef towards The Exorcist. Even the film’s structure is essentially the same, with the buildup to the actual Exorcism itself.
One expecting the arched satirical performance from Crowe ala The Pope’s Exorcist will be disappointed. Those looking forward to a return to form from the actor will be warmly surprised. There is something within Crowe’s broken sad performance that’s arresting in the best way possible. Overweight, demure, and broken is how we meet Anthony Miller. Crowe plays it without any sort of wink or nod. As the film progresses and how that changes as alcohol and darker forces infect Miller – as does Crowe’s performance. The Exorcism does prove that given the right material, Crowe is as effective as he ever was.
The supporting players are all uniformly excellent some with more thankless roles than others. Both Simpkin and Bailey are saddled with the “young lovers” role and are pretty underutilized. Worthington and Adrian Pasdar are essentially cameos. Though it’s Adam Goldberg as Billy Fr… I mean … the director that steals the show. His chewing of the perfectly formed dialog is one of the highlights of the film. Hyde Pierce as the Priest gives a wonderful performance and matches Crowe beat for beat. Their relationship is the broken soul of the film with so much said and unsaid between the two. One wishes that the film had more between the two as their work elevates the film.
Yes, the film ultimately delivers within the final half-hour as one would expect. However, this would not be half as effective if Miller’s film didn’t give us the time with these characters to set the stage for what is to come. The Exorcism will surprise many in its compelling take on the mythos of the making of a horror classic and its meta inversing of the tropes.