The Exorcism (2024)

The Exorcism is a horror movie about shooting a horror movie, and the movie inside the movie seems to have the better script. Russell Crowe plays Anthony Miller, a veteran actor with a rough past, cast as the star of The Georgetown Project, a possession movie, once its first lead dies mysteriously on set. His daughter Lee, fresh off a school suspension, works as his assistant, and both still grieve her mom. The director, played by Adam Goldberg, needles Anthony about his history and his lost faith, and soon Anthony is sleepwalking and acting very strangely on set. Crowe commits hard, and David Hyde Pierce turns up as a priest who doubles as a psychiatrist. But almost every scare is one you’ve seen before, and the movie-set angle never turns into anything clever. Opening crowds gave it a D CinemaScore, and critics landed at 28% on Rotten Tomatoes. A 3.2 because Crowe deserved fresher scares than these. $91.69 says you spend the last act guessing which classic horror scene it borrows next, and go five for five.

What works: Russell Crowe throws himself into the role, and the idea of a cursed film set has real potential.

What doesn’t: It falls back on stale possession clichés and never does anything interesting with its behind-the-scenes setup.

Who it’s for: Russell Crowe completists and horror fans who will watch any exorcism movie at least once.