'The Exorcism' Ending Explained: Does Russell Crowe Survive Another Demonic Possession? (2024)

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for The Exorcism.

Joshua John Miller's The Exorcism may not officially be a canonical entry in the influential Exorcist franchise, but it's clearly a respectful homage. The movie follows the filming of the fictional horror film "The Georgetown Project," which seems to follow a very similar plot to 1973's The Exorcist. When the film's lead actor (Adrian Pasdar) falls to his death on set under suspicious circ*mstances, he is quickly replaced by troubled actor Tony Miller (Russell Crowe). Tony steps into the role of a priest hired to exorcise a demon out of a teenage girl's body (a nod to Joshua John Miller's father, Jason Miller, who played Father Karras in The Exorcist). As "The Georgetown Project" begins filming, the set is plagued by paranormal activity no one can explain, mirroring the decades of rumors around the allegedly cursed sets of The Omen and The Exorcist. There is a diabolical spirit looming over this shoot, and it has a particular interest in Crowe's Tony. But does it get what it wants? Here's everything that went down in the finale of the newest religious horror movie.

The Exorcism (2024)

R

510

A troubled actor begins to exhibit a disruptive behavior while shooting a horror film. His estranged daughter wonders if he's slipping back into his past addictions or if there's something more sinister at play.

Release Date

June 7, 2024

See Also

Is 'The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen' the Version You Should See?‘The Exorcist’ Priest Was Haunted While Filming the Horror Classic. Now His Son Has Directed an Ambitious Satire About a Cursed RemakeThe Entire Exorcist Timeline Explained - SlashFilmThe Exorcist: 10 Ways It Still Holds Up Today

Director

Joshua John Miller , M.A. Fortin

Cast

Russell Crowe , Ryan Simpkins , Chloe Bailey , Sam Worthington , adam goldberg , David Hyde Pierce

Runtime

93 Minutes

Main Genre

Horror

Writers

Joshua John Miller , M.A. Fortin

Studio(s)

MiraMax , Outerbanks Entertainment

What is 'The Exorcism' About?

The film opens with the lead actor of "The Georgetown Project" being attacked by an unseen force, causing him to fall to his death off the top of the film's set. Replacing the lead is washed-up but now sober action star Tony Miller, a traumatized widower with a strained relationship with his rebellious teenage daughter Lee (Ryan Simpkins). Tony's not the most intuitive choice for the role, but director Peter (Adam Goldberg) is convinced that Tony's real-life, highly publicized struggle with internal demons will translate successfully to a fictional demonic struggle on-screen. It's a comeback role for Tony the stakes are high, but he lands it and essentially forces the recently suspended Lee on as a P.A., where she instantly connects with the young actress, Blake (Chloe Bailey), who plays the film-within-a-film's possession victim.

We learn that Tony suffered abuse from a priest when he was an altar boy. This explains his frosty, uncomfortable first meeting with the film's cleric consultant, Father Conor (David Hyde Pierce), and even on day one of production, something feels off for Tony. Sitting in makeup, he gets a nosebleed while receiving flashbacks of himself as a boy, remembering a priest ominously shoving wine in his face. Later at home, Tony starts to act strangely, initiating a troubling cycle: his performances fail to click, triggering growing directorial abuse, and stranger behavior at home. While Lee blames his concerning behavior on stress, sleepwalking, and not taking medication, Tony soon starts to exhibit troubling actions that can't be so simply explained. That's right: Tony's caught a case of demonic possession.

Tony Becomes Possessed as He Starts Shooting "The Georgetown Project"

Before Tony ever sets foot on set, there's a demonic presence. Cast and crew may debate the death of their former co-star Tom, but the cold open shows that he was clearly hearing voices on an empty set (including a demonic mimicry of the script's "please help my daughter") right before he died. When Tony later finds the former lead's script copy (alongside a cross that's the exact one from Tony's repeated traumatic memories), it's covered in scrawled variations of "he knows you will not be saved" (perhaps echoing John Carpenter's repeated Prince of Darkness exhortation that "You will not be saved!") and alongside satanic imagery and occult symbols. The demonic influence was already there before Tony was even hired.

It's a little hard to pinpoint the exact moment when Tony becomes explicitly possessed. Even in his early pre-audition scene, something's a bit off: Tony confesses to a priest for the first time in 40 years, but his voice is suddenly far deeper and rougher than it was in the prior scene. His confession sounds, at first, eerily similar to his vocal register when the demon takes hold of him. It's possible, though unconfirmed, that there's a level of demonic influence waiting to be activated before he attends the haunted set. When Blake gives Lee her first set tour, it's intercut with Tony getting a haircut that's strangely ominous. Blake explains that she gets saged on set because "all kinds of messed up sh*t happened when they were making devil movies, like The Omen or The Exorcist or Poltergeist." Cut back to Tony, and he receives a brief flashback to a traumatic childhood memory from his early days as an altar boy. Tony's instances of evident possession are regularly accompanied by flashbacks to that moment, so we know that these memories and Tony's possession are deeply connected.

In the next scene, the audience can briefly see that the hands of the woman adjusting Tony's costume are covered with a massive serpent tattoo alongside tattooed occult symbols (the same ones found in Tom's eerie script copy that Tony later discovers). Between the cursed set, Tony's past, and the possible suspicious crew, there isn't a clear way to decipher which of these exact factors caused the possession (there's no "you read from the Necronomicon!" moment).

Tony's Traumatic Past Makes Him Vulnerable to Possession

Early in the film, we discover that Tony has a strained relationship with Lee due to his severe drinking and overall absence while Lee's mother was dying. It’s clear that the now sober Tony (well, he still has the odd beer) has deep regrets over that era of his life. Every time director Peter calls to mind those regretful moments,it’s followed up by an increase in demonic activity. When this happens on set, a light falls dangerously close to Peter’s head, and it only gets worse from there. It’s clear that the shame from those moments has some connection to the demon’s hold over him. Unfortunately, that's not the only source of repressed emotions that Tony has to contend with.

When Lee and Blake consult with Father Conor, he suggests that Tony may have unacknowledged trauma that the demon is bringing to the surface. Lee states that her mother mentioned "messed up stuff" that happened in Tony's childhood. As the demon infests deeper into Tony’s soul, we get clearer, deeper looks into the flashback that haunts Tony from his time as an altar boy: a priest forces young Tony to drink wine, preceding a moment of clearly implied abuse. Tony then left the Catholic church and still feels profound discomfort at the sight of a priest like Father Conor. It is clear that the tragic moment instilled a deeper shame still in Tony. The demon uses memories of and shame over that moment to increase its hold over Tony. It’s possible that these long-repressed memories fueled some of Tony’s more destructive habits, which were exacerbated by his wife's death, and the entity uses these sources of shame and self-loathingto increase Tony’s vulnerability to its possession.

Who Is The Demon Possessing Russell Crowe's Tony?

Possession horror history has showcased a variety of demons, entities, or other cosmic terrors as the antagonistic force inhabiting a victim, from The Exorcist's Assyrian-derived Pazuzu to Hereditary's king of hell, Paimon, or even Satan himself in Prince of Darkness and many others. Here, the crew are confronted by the bull-headed demon Molech, the fictional film's chosen demon and a real part of demonological lore. Molech is deeply associated with the ritual sacrifice of children. He's explicitly name-dropped in the film, but his iconography is seen throughout. In the film's cold open, the demonic attack suffered by the film's first star involves the flash of a painting of a bull-headed figure (a painting we see later on set) with both hands raised skyward. When Tony is later scanning through the deceased actor's old, marked-up script copy, there are pictures of Molech holding a child. The association with Molech is particularly troubling given Tony's troubled history with his daughter, and the increasing physical threat he poses to her as the possession takes hold.

A shocking and heavy possibility (though nowhere explicitly confirmed) is that Molech may be connected to sexual abuse in Catholic church history. As the demon's possession of Tony increases, so do the flashbacks. The audience gets the most detailed look yet at that disturbing moment exactly when Father Conor is reading about Molech in an ancient tome, and there is regular juxtaposition between Catholic imagery (the cross of the abusive priest) and Molech's imagery (the bull-headed painting). In fact, the cross Tony finds among the deceased former star's things is the same specific cross from his traumatized memories. Molech's association with a terrible history of child sacrifice amplifies the terror of his gleeful use of those memories to torment Tony. While unconfirmed, it's possible that the film is associating Molech's influence with the pattern of heinous, real-life abuse as well.

How Does 'The Exorcism' End?

18 days into the shoot and the demonic possession is in full force. Tony's clearly unwell, but Peter attempts to solicit an intense performance from his lead actor by disgustingly referencing his childhood abuse. It understandably sends Tony into a hateful spiral, and the demon inhabits him as he heads downstairs, contorting to inhuman levels and terrifying the crew. Back in Tony's home, Lee and Blake find support in each other before Tony attacks the pair with hom*ophobic obscenities (to put it lightly) and leaves the house. Lee surmises he's back on set, and she discovers him in full possession in the bedroom built for the film-within-a-film's final confrontation, Blake and Father Conor on their knees in a frozen prayer pose. Lee gains an advantage by attacking Tony with a cross.

Father Conor, now awake, challenges the demon to use him as a host instead, and Molech does so. The transference frees Tony, and his traumatized memories come back entirely. He wounds the demon's power by invoking saints, then strikes a literal blow against the demon by stabbing him with the cross, setting Father Conor ablaze as the demon is vanquished, Tony conquers his inner demons by conquering his outer ones. As the demon was so intimately connected with, and fueled by, Tony's pain, banishing it led towards a brighter and more hopeful future; and appropriately enough, one where his relationship with Lee is better than ever. Still, while the film ends on a hopeful note (Tony even seems to have reconciled with his Catholic roots), who knows if the demon has been beaten once and for all? One thing is for sure, though: Tony should stick to action movies.

The Exorcism is now in theaters.

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