At first glance, Russell Crowe‘s The Exorcism looks like a sequel or prequel to The Pope’s Exorcist. The beard is gone but he’s wearing the priest frock and he looks cut up in the first look images for the movie. But The Exorcism is nothing like The Pope’s Exorcism. In fact, the only similarity is Crowe and whatever spooky demon has possessed him in the movie.
From what we gauge from the trailer and synopsis, Crowe is a struggling actor working on a horror film about a possession. His character plays the priest trying to save the young woman possessed. But the more that he works on the movie, the more his estranged daughter comes to realize that there is something sinister happening to her father. It isn’t his past addictions returning and making him act odd. There’s a darkness there that’s possessing him, making him hurt himself, and endangering his daughter.
By the end of the trailer for The Exorcism it becomes abundantly clear that Crowe needs to continue down this path when it comes to possession movies. Because he knows how to sell it and it will certainly confuse people enough when they go to the theater and they confuse it for a sequel to The Pope’s Exorcist.
Watch the trailer below:
The Exorcism hits theaters on June 7, 2024.