‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ Ending Explained: What That Ending Could Mean For ‘The Pope’s Exorcist 2’

Looking for a new scary movie to watch? Look no further, because The Pope’s Exorcist is now streaming on Netflix.

Directed by Julius Avery, this 2023 supernatural horror flick stars Russell Crowe as “the James Bond of exorcists,” aka Father Gabriele Amorth. To say The Pope’s Exorcist is “based on a true story” would be a stretch, to say the least. But the screenplay, written by Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos, is based on the memoirs of the real-life priest, Father Gabriele Amorth, who worked as an official exorcist for the Catholic Church from 1986 until his death in 2016. The late William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist, even made a documentary about him back in 2018 called The Devil and Father Amorth. (This dude also believed yoga and Harry Potter was the work of the devil, so it’s best to take his tales with a grain of salt.)

But hey, tall tales make for good horror movies. Read on for a breakdown of The Pope’s Exorcist plot summary and The Pope’s Exorcist ending explained—including what that ending could mean for The Pope’s Exorcist 2.

The Pope’s Exorcist plot summary:

Father Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe) is the Pope’s personal exorcist, and he’s very good at his job. In the opening scene, we witness Gabriele goad a demon out of a young man and into a pig. Unfortunately, the Church’s tribunal would like the Pope to stop performing exorcisms. One of the tribunal’s Cardinals, Sullivan (Ryan O’Grady) does not believe in demonic possession at all. The nerve of that guy!

Luckily, the Pope still believes in Gabriele and his ability to expel evil demons. So when the Pope hears about a young American boy named Henry (played by Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) who got possessed by an evil spirit while his family was overseeing the renovation of a Spanish abbey, the Pope sends his best guy to handle the job. The Pope tells Gabriele that this abbey has given the Church trouble in the past. He suspects there is a very powerful demon there.

The Pope is right. Gabriele arrives at the abbey, where he meets Henry’s mother and sister. When he confronts the possessed boy, Henry, Gabriele is shocked to discover the demon knows Gabriele’s name and his past sins. Gabriele realizes he cannot defeat this demon by himself. He teams up with the Spanish priest at the abbey, Father Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto), and gives him a crash course in being a good, faithful, devout, demon-slaying priest. They try an exorcism, but they fail. Gabriele believes if they can find the demon’s name, they can weaken it, and save the boy.

After some typical demonic shenanigans, Gabriele and Esquibel discover a catacomb beneath the abbey, containing skeletons of past priests and exorcists. The two priests realize that the demon’s goal is to possess Gabriele and infiltrate the church. They also find an old religious text that reveals the demon’s name is Asmodeus.

Gabriele realizes that Asmodeus plans to use his greatest sin against him. And Gabriele’s greatest sin is the guilt he carries over turning his back on a mentally disturbed woman named Rosaria. Rosaria claimed to be possessed by a demon who was raping her every night. Gabriele saw she was not really possessed, and so did not help her. After Rosaria killed herself in front of him, Gabriele realized he should have found a way to help the woman, who was being sexually abused, even if she did not require an exorcism.

Meanwhile, back in Italy, the Pope has fallen ill. Asmodeus is growing stronger. But now that Gabriele knows the demon’s name, he believes they can performs a successful exorcism.

The Pope’s Exorcist ending explained:

Gabriele, Esquibel, and Henry’s mother and sister gather in his room to perform the exorcism. Everybody prays and compels the demon with the power of Christ. It is basically the scene from The Exorcist (1973). But it doesn’t work. The demon possesses both Henry and his sister and is killing them. Gabriele, desperate to save the children, tells the demon to possess him instead. And the demon does!

Henry and his family are no longer possessed, and escape from the abbey. Esquibel stays behind to help a now-possessed Gabriele. They stumble down to the catacombs, where shit gets very demonic indeed. Gabriele is tortured by the image of Rosario, while Esquibel is tortured by the image of his own ex-lover. Luckily, Esquibel has his handy-dandy cross and his handy-dandy Latin prayers, which he learned at Gabriele’s request. Everyone knows prayers are more powerful in Latin! Esquibel manages to expel the demon, and, together, he and Gabriele manage to defeat the demon. Teamwork makes the dreamwork.

After the demon is defeated, the Pope makes a full recovery. The Pope congratulates Gabriele on a job well done. Even better news: That non-believer Sullivan left to do missionary work in Guam! He’s being replaced by the exorcist-friendly Bishop Lumumba (Cornell John). Now Gabriele can perform his exorcisms freely.

Lumumba takes Gabriele and Esquibel down to an archive of the Church, where he reveals that the demon Asmodeus was one of 200 demons in “evil sites” across the world. Would Gabriele be willing to check out the remaining 199 sites and clear them of evil? They even have a helpful map of the sites, which was discovered with the documents at the abbey. Gabriele says yes, as long as he can bring along his trusty sidekick, Father Esquibel.

The movie ends with a clip of Gabriele walking away in slo-mo, with text on the screening informing the viewer that the real Father Gabriele Amorth “continued to serve the afflicted until his death in Rome in 2016 and wrote many books. The books are good.”

This is a cheeky reference to a line earlier in the film, when Gabriele first meets Esquibel. Esquibel tells Gabriele he is a fan of his work, and Gabriele asks Esquibel if he’s read the books. When Esquibel admits he has not read them, Gabriele says, “The books are good.” In fact, the books—including 1990’s An Exorcist Tells His Story and 1992’s An Exorcist: More Stories—were so good, that they served as the basis of the script.

Is there going to be The Pope’s Exorcist 2?

What does The Pope’s Exorcist ending mean? Will there be 199 sequels to The Pope’s Exorcist? Well, probably not quite that many, but there is rumored to be at least one The Pope’s Exorcist sequel in the works. After all, that ending definitely sets up an exorcism franchise.

According to a report from Bloody Disgusting in April, The Pope’s Exorcist 2 is in “early development,” with Russell Crowe expected to reprise his role. However, the report did not name a source. So this is all unofficial rumors, for now.

We likely won’t get any official news on The Pope’s Exorcist 2 until the WGA strike and the SAG-AFTRA strike have been resolved. Stay tuned!