The context of an exorcism movie always paints back to the initial vision of "The Exorcist" which has its own mythology. The reason "The Pope's Exorcist" works on many levels is because it takes the existing history of the church and of Europe into the equation anchored by a solid and engaging performance by Russell Crowe.

While the film wants to have harks to "Sicario" and "Scarface" in certain ways, especially with the inclusion of Steven Bauer (from "Scarface") as the father, it is the imbalances of an independent production that come through (though it does the best with what it has).