Co-written and directed by Joshua John Miller, it's worth starting any review of The Exorcism by reminding people of who Joshua John Miller is. He's many things, including an actor, writer, and director. But, and it's most important in relation to this movie, he's also a son of Jason "Father Karras in The Exorcist" Miller. That's most important here because The Exorcism is very much in dialogue with The Exorcist. You could even consider one as an attempt to exorcise the spirits of the other, but maybe that's overthinking things.
Russell Crowe plays Anthony Miller, an actor trying to keep himself in order as he portrays a priest in a horror movie about an exorcism. The film is called The Georgetown Project, and it bears a major resemblance to the landmark horror film famously filmed in that area (although that film is namechecked, which means we're in a world in which that film already exists). Miller is trying to stay away from alcohol, trying to stay connected to his daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), and trying not to be too disorientated by the content of the film, especially while the director (Adam Goldberg) keeps pushing him to tap into uncomfortable memories of abuse and pain.
The last time I watched Russell Crowe get involved with some demon-wrestling exorcisms was when I watched The Pope’s Exorcist. That film was fun, and Crowe seemed to be having a lot of fun in the lead role. This film is the polar opposite of that. Crowe isn’t having fun, and neither are viewers.
Alongside Crowe and Simpkins are a great mix of players who all deserve better. David Hyde Pierce gets to utter dialogue that his most famous sitcom creation would justifiably ridicule, Goldberg is a cartoon depiction of an angry star director, Chloe Bailey doesn’t get enough to do, and there are irrelevant amounts of screentime for Adrian Pasdar and Sam Worthington. Simpkins probably fares the best, mainly because she’s at the heart of the drama without having to do all of the contorting and snarling that Crowe delivers.
Miller has done good work before this, and I am sure he will do something else worth my time sometime in the future, but this is truly dire. Maybe directing isn’t his strong suit, especially when you consider that this is only the second feature he has helmed in twenty five years. M. A. Fortin doesn’t help in his co-writing role either, despite being a long-term collaborator with Miller, which makes me think the biggest problem here stems from someone wrestling with a project that they cannot view with any objectivity. Miller is the reason this exists, and he is the reason that it collapses like an underbaked soufflé.
Although it’s all put together with the level of technical competence and polish that the budget allows, The Exorcism still manages to sink to the bottom of the 2024 horror movie barrel. And I can only hope that it stays there, perhaps pinned under anything else that we can send down there to ensure it doesn’t try to float back to the top.
2/10
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