2024 seems to be the year flooded with religious themed horror and since we’re at our halfway point, did we really need to see another one? This weekend, The Exorcism, starring Russell Crowe, will debut in theaters and people are either going to absolutely love it or hate it, and hopefully, with having been given a shot at an advanced review screener, I can maybe change some minds on why this movie is actually not as terrible as you might think.

Exorcist and demon films are a dime a dozen, they’re hit and miss, and more often, hit than miss. This is also not Crowe’s first rodeo in the sub-genre, but you’ll have to forgive me, as I did purposely skip out on The Pope’s Exorcist, so I honestly know nothing about it. I’ll just pretend it was terrible. Anyway, this movie is about a washed-up actor in recovery playing a priest who has to banish demons, and then battle real demons as filming progresses. Unique enough on its own, sure, but not enough to hold the torch.

I’ll be blunt and to the point: as a horror film, this movie brings nothing new or special to the table and I wasn’t impressed with much, especially not the tropes or jump scares. As a horror film, yeah, it’s awful.

However! Hear me out! There’s a specifically meta part of this film that breaks the fourth wall and I hope everyone else noticed this as well. (Don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler.)

At a party, the director (Adam Goldberg, who is a fucking absolute gem in this film btw) describes his movie as, “a psychological drama wrapped in the skin of a horror movie.”

I couldn’t agree more with this sentiment and it was, at this point, that I decided to watch the movie with two separate pairs of eyes and take everything in straight; no chaser.

There are a lot of thematic elements to digest such as abuse, neglect, disease, self-reflection, trauma, institutional/generational trauma and abuse, fuck… I could go on with a laundry list that no one on the Earth could possibly want to read. My point is, there’s a lot to unwrap here and is it done in the best way? No. A big portion of the film feels rushed and sloppy, while the rest of it felt thought out and cared for.

While the supernatural elements are mid and tired, Crowe’s performance as an exhausted addict, father, and widower hit hard. Where are my Fluoxetine babes at? You’ll appreciate the nod when you see it.

I didn’t initially want to like this film, but honestly, it defies the logic of other religious sub-genre nonsense. I won’t go into detail as it may pose risk of spoiler, but you’ll know when you know. I also find the LGBTQ+ friendly take was a big slap in the face to Catholicism, and shit, who among us doesn’t love that? Sorry, not sorry.

All in all, I honestly really appreciated this movie for what it was. A psychological drama wrapped in the skin of a horror movie that sometimes makes no sense, and breaks the fourth wall in the best possible way.

I received a copy of this film in exchange for an honest review.