In addition to giving us those moments of Russell Crowe on Vespa dressed as a priest and his dialogues in Italian, The Pope’s Exorcist It was a surprise in terms of genre entertainment and box office. A success that has raided a second film on the subject with the actor, The Georgetown Exorcism, which is not related to the previous one and which presents several peculiarities. The main one, that It was filmed in 2019 and that she has been rescued after being left in the limbo.
The work, with Miramax behind it and which has arrived in Spain (through Vértice 360) before being released in the United States, is also unique for its premise, with Crowe playing an actor who plays an exorcist in a possession film that has begun production. A star who hit rock bottom due to his addictions and who has found a role that could mean his return. However, in addition to being overwhelmed, he begins to feel bad and behave strangely.
The Georgetown Exorcism (The exorcism in its original title, the Spanish refers to the work of fiction that is filmed in history) also presents the striking detail that its director, Joshua John Miller, is the son of Jason Miller, the memorable Father Karras of the masterful The Exorcistwho would return to the saga in the more than vindictive third installment.
Joshua John Miller, screenwriter of The last survivorsstarted in the industry as an actor and It is mainly associated with The night travelers, the vampiric and highly cult film by Kathryn Bigelow. For her feature film she has Crowe, Ryan Simpkins (the protagonist’s daughter), David Hyde Pierce (yes, Frasier’s mythical brother), Adam Goldberg, Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Samantha Mathis (it has an almost testimonial appearance) and, in a small collaboration in the prologue, Adrian Pasdaryour partner in The night travelers.
Review of ‘The Georgetown Exorcism’
The Georgetown Exorcism
Beyond the fact that there may be those who confuse it with a sequel, The Georgetown Exorcism faces the good feelings he left The Pope’s Exorcist. The inevitable comparison conditions expectations regarding Joshua John Miller’s film when they are very different films. If Julius Avery’s film played with flashiness and sensationalism of the elements of possession cinema and with the charismatic portrait of Russell Crowe as a sly exorcist and true to his style, Miller’s gives a twist to the theme and applies metacinema features to opt for drama as points out what Crowe projects. A tone compatible with channeling the delusional in certain situations.
The Georgetown Exorcism wake up conceptual appeal due to the cinema within cinema factor and the fact that possession and the demonic arise within the framework of the filming of a film precisely assigned to that subgenre. Specifically, the evil affects the actors chosen to play the protagonist exorcist (the original and the substitute).
The component generates suggestion, just like the charge given off by that cold room on the set that refers to Regan’s in The Exorcist. This scenario, in which of course the climax occurs, concentrates doses of metacinema, also present in that Miller actually talked about his own feature film when the story points out that the work being filmed is inspired by iconic titles that carry a cursed legend and that the production is a drama wrapped in terror.
That Miller wrote The last survivors and that among the producers is Kevin Williamson (scream) are two others details that link to the inclination of The Georgetown Exorcism towards the goal.
Miller exhibits manners in tone and treatmentin its combination of the issue of filming with the focus on the intimate, in how the guilt of the fictional priest merges with the emotional situation of pain, insecurity and torment of the actor who tries to give him life, and in the ideas that he introduces . However, the director does not get the evolution right. and the dynamics of the story as it advances towards the decisive sections. Despite its obvious failed part, its curious precepts and its atypical side make it a redeemable film and with points of interest.
The main portrait has its dimension by the presence that Crowe transmits in the role of an actor, incidentally named Miller, who wants to resume his career but is rusty and lacking confidence. Getting into the shoes of an exorcist with his inner demons causes guilt to become vivid that consumes him due to the addictions (with alcohol at the forefront) in which he fell into after the death of his wife. The story describes that he begins to feeling strange, erratic and scatteredand when the situation gets worse is when the film enters its particular drift.
She is symbolized by those images with the character in a trance to the confusion of her daughter and various development gaps, among them the poor way of shelving the filming factor and leaving it unfinished when the events that occur called for it to continue, the creaking reappearance after the apparently fatal ‘accident’ caused by the demon and the related dark episode of which the protagonist in his youth. The gaps in the script also mean that, for example, the contribution of Sam Worthington (his character participates in the film being shot) is limited to that of the person ‘passing by’.
Miller is not very good at articulating the moments of terroralthough one is left with the dramatic and ‘small’ approach and tone, favored by Simon Duggan’s photography (behind the image of Furious). In any case, The exorcism at Georgetown offers a striking scene of grotesque body transformation and creepy.
In the resolution they show loose and the ridiculous, but at the same time the suggestion intervenes of the delirious and the meta-cinematic. The epilogue, on the other hand, does not know much.
Crowe is accompanied by Ryan Simpkins, correct as the actor’s daughter and in practice co-star due to the narrative weight it holds. Among the secondary stands outapart from what was mentioned about Worthington, the contribution of the great David Hyde Pierce as a Catholic priest and psychiatrist who serves as an advisor on the production. Adam Goldberg is spot on as the cretin director who pressures the rusty performer.
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