The Strangers and 20 best Halloween movies and shows to watch on Netflix (plus 12 to skip) in 2023

The Pope’s Exorcist

The Pope’s Exorcist is one of the newest additions to this list, as the Russell Crowe-led movie was released in early 2023. But the thing with exorcism movies is that they have to be very special to stand out.

The genre is stuffed to the gills, and most of these films are cliché and play out exactly how you’d expect. The Pope’s Exorcist is just an average horror film, though I will say the acting and special effects make it a bit better than the dozens of other run-of-the-mill demon-possession movies we’ve seen in the past decade. That said, this movie doesn’t need to be at the top of your list this Halloween if you’ve already got a massive watchlist to get through.

Crowe stars as Father Gabriele Amorth, the Pope’s personal exorcist. It’s based on the real Gabriele Amorth’s books: An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories. Supposedly, the real Amorth conducted more than 100,000 exorcists in his lifetime.

Your mileage will vary depending on your personal beliefs. Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos direct. When Amorth is called to investigate the possession of a child, he uncovers a dark conspiracy that the Vatican has been trying to keep hidden.

VERDICT: Skip