I am tired of nuns in horrors, I say this as someone who is both terrified and intrigued by horror. It’s such a fascinating genre. It can be horrifying, funny, over the top and completely sincere. So when Sydney Sweeney’s latest film, Immaculate came up on my dance card I was excited. I didn’t know anything about this film and I was in the mood for a horror. I was in the mood to be scared.
Unfortunately, Immaculate didn’t give me what I wanted. Starring Sydney Sweeney as Sister Cecilia, this young nun has come to a convent in Italy to take care of retired nuns. As she learns to help these women one day she begins to vomit. She is then told by the in-house doctor that she is pregnant. The supernatural twist? She’s a virgin.
As the months go on and her own health begins to deteriorate she believes there is something more sinister than saintly going on.
Suffering
Immaculate is a good-looking film, with decent cinematography, and at times, an unnerving score and a compelling lead. Unfortunately, it’s not a good horror. There is nothing particularly scary about it, there are a bunch of jump scares and toward the climax, there is a rather interesting set piece but in my opinion, that is it.
Now, if you’re looking for gore and some disturbing imagery then Immaculate has it. I do feel though that it tries too hard at times, it doesn’t know when to reign it in and when to go full throttle. It’s usually at the same kind of tempo. I could tell when moments were coming in the film and I was disappointed.
Also for the premise of an immaculate conception with dark and sinister effects, it wasn’t weird enough either. With all the gore and all the build-up of this supposed unborn messiah, what is ultimately revealed behind all of this is quite mundane.
The one bright spot is Sweeney, she carries the film commendably as someone who is battling with what faith means to her. And as the film progresses it asks a lot of her and she rises to the occasion. I’ve not seen her in much, I’m fairly certain this is my first brush with Miss Sweeney, and she’s definitely got that it factor.
Immaculate may not have done it for me, but for other fans of horror there will still likely be something to sink your teeth into.
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