Horror: Russell Crowe meets the devil in this film, not recommended for children under 12, inspired by true events

Russell Crowe, the 2001 Oscar winner for his role in Gladiator, continues to amaze us. At the age of 59, the New Zealand actor made his first forays into horror cinema with Julius Avery’s The Vatican Exorcist, to which we already owe The Samaritan alongside Sylvester Stallone.

Here, Crowe answers Daniel Zovato (Father Esquibel), Alex Esso (Julia) and Franco Nero as the Pope.

Inspired by the archives of the Vatican’s chief exorcist, Father Gabriel Amorti, this horror film follows a young boy caught up in Father Amorti’s investigation after a gruesome discovery. His investigation leads to an age-old conspiracy that the Vatican has tried desperately to forget.

Not for children under 12, the feature film is based on the books by Father Gabriel Amort, The exorcist tells him (1992) and New Tales of the Exorcist (1993). In total, the priest has published more than twenty works (alone or with others), 7 of which have been translated into French.

The most famous exorcist

Born in 1925 in Modena, Italy to a very pious family, Gabriele Amorti joined the Italian resistance when he was only 18 years old. At the end of World War II, he joined the Young Christian Democrats.

Also a law graduate, Gabriele Amorti entered Holy Orders in January 1954. Trained by Father Candido Amantini, Father Amorti was appointed Exorcist of the Diocese of Rome in June 1986 by Cardinal Hugo Polletti.

Since his appointment to this position, he has performed more than 70,000 exorcisms, but in 2008 he admits that he did not create one.than a hundred times more than actual cases of demonic possession“.

Qualified as an official Vatican exorcist, the priest founded the International Association of Exorcists in 1991. His works, which tell about his various experiences, have been published several times.

Documentary by William Friedkin…

In 2016, William Friedkin, the creator of the cult film The Exorcist, made a documentary about the priest called The Devil and Father Amort. During the filming and with the permission of the Holy See, the filmmaker captures for the first time in history a real exorcism session performed by Father Amort on a 46-year-old woman.

But in the middle of filming, the priest was hospitalized and died of lung complications on September 16, 2016. He is still considered the most famous exorcist.

The Exorcist of the Vatican This is the first piece of fiction to tell the story of Father Amort and could lead to sequels if the film Julius Avery (on an $18 million budget) is doing well at the box office.

Real facts and other fictitious ones

The feature film is indeed inspired by Gabriel Amort’s first two works and tells the story of several events, some real and some fictitious. From the Spanish Inquisition to the disappearance of Emanuela Orland, dubbed in the film Rosaria (to which Netflix also dedicated the documentary series Emanuela Orland, Disappeared from the Vatican), Julius Avery’s fiction follows real events. This leaves doubts throughout the length of the film.

Dead at 91, Father Amort documented his various exorcisms, so it’s entirely possible that other films inspired by his stories will see the light of day, such as the Conjuring films based on husband Warren’s files. The final scene of The Vatican Exorcist also leaves the door open for other films.