Immaculée

Unfortunately, I'm not usually the type to see modern horror films right when they're released, often waiting a few years. This can feel like I'm really missing out as I hear about all the hype on social media and risk being influenced by critic reviews and spoilers.

This was the case with Immaculate, a film I would have eagerly seen in theaters early this year (2024), especially given its more than positive reviews.

The film attempts to blend science and religion, which is an intriguing concept, but it doesn't fully explore this idea with greater depth. To put it bluntly, Immaculate seems to fall short on several fronts. It adheres closely to tropes established by classics like Rosemary's Baby, preventing it from feeling fresh or original. And while it pays homage to religious horror it doesn't offer anything necessarily different or new to the genre.

While the convent setting has potential, and the Italian countryside feels tranquil, however, the rest of the film ultimately falls stagnant. It does benefit from a decent budget, featuring some nice special effects and solid camerawork, but it's the scope of the story where it truly lacks.

This was my first experience watching Sydney Sweeney, who was likable but not particularly awe-inspiring. Her appearance more than overshadows her performance, focusing on her distinct feminine figure which might have kept my interest more than the plot.

There's a hint of mystery, and some intrigue from the religious foundations helps hold the core of the narrative together. By the ending however, the film fails to leave a lasting impression, with no standout scenes or striking performances.

A month later, after watching the extras, I found I had forgotten most of the story except for a brief, thirty-second ending, which underscores my disappointment of not bringing anything memorable to the table.

The idea itself was promising, and the execution wasn't entirely terrible. Sydney Sweeney was or perhaps is "the" highlight, but the film's depth, lore, and psychological elements do feel inevitably short, leaving it unable to leave a lasting mark.

5/10.

Immaculate

In Immaculate, we're given a nunsploitation story. Sister Cecilia relocates to an Italian convent following the closure of the one where she was raised in America. Soon after her arrival, she becomes pregnant and this is tagged an immaculate conception seeing as she's still a virgin.

The film explores the concept of women's bodily autonomy and challenges the perception of women solely as vessels for reproduction.

This psychological religious horror is mostly good but the religious aspects could have gotten more emphasis. The social commentary on faith could have been explored better. However, it delivers a satisfying amount of scares and builds to a pulsating final act. The restraint we'd gotten in the previous acts is tossed in the final act, and here is where the movie shines best. The pacing is good even though it does take time to get to the juicy parts but with the limited runtime, it avoids being tedious. The creepy atmosphere also effectively carries the film through its initial stages.

Sydney Sweeney delivers as sister Cecilia. Remarkably, she auditioned for the role at just 17 years old before the project was shelved. Years later, as a producer, she secured financing for the film, demonstrating her dedication to the project. This dedication is palpable in the performance she gives.

In conclusion, Immaculate is a solid psychological religious horror and although it falters in some areas, particularly in its underexplored themes, the film's gripping final act and Sweeney's impassioned portrayal make it a worthy watch for horror enthusiasts.

7/10.

If it wasn't for Sydney, no one would have seen this movie. I honestly don't understand what the higher reviews were watching...

This movie lacked both depth and any sort of character development. The movie would've been better if captions were provided, yet we had to rely on translations from another character.

On numerous occasions, what appeared to be a major development of the movie was either not explained or followed up. Just left there and the director moved on.

I was very disappointed by the movie and felt that they could have done a much better job of developing a storyline. Instead they phoned this one in...

Don't go see it in theatre, wait until it's out to steam if you want to see it. It's certainly not worth the price of admission.

In 2024's "Immaculate" we are introduced to the young nun named Cecilia who is portrayed by Sydney Sweeney. She is the main selling point for this movie with her remarkable rise in Hollywood right now. It's also interesting how this movie was made because Sweeney auditioned for this movie in 2014 but the project never materialized. Now that she is a big name in Hollywood, she reached out to the writer and went on to produce this movie with her in the leading role. I love that she is so dedicated to making a horror movie and a project she was certainly passionate about. And you could tell because her acting is really great and even though it was hard seeing her as a nun at first, she did the great job bringing her character to life. Although I find it a little weird that even in a movie about a nun, we somehow get to see her naked multiple times because she can't seem to leave her clothes on. Not a complaint but more of an observation.

The movie went in a different direction than I initially expected it to go which was a nice surprise. On the other hand it is really predictable and you immediately know where the threat lurks. There are some cheap jump scares in this but also some rather suspenseful moments that kept the tension high. The movie also looks pretty decent and overall entertains. But just like this review mainly focuses on Sydney Sweeney herself, the movie does too. Like I said she is the main selling point and the most memorable thing in an otherwise rather generic film that would be forgotten about easily. [5,7/10]

I liked the mix of Italian and English. It worked really well, imagining how the main character would not be able to understand the majority of what they are saying.

However, the priest asks something on the lines of 'if it is not God's will, why does he not stop us?'.

The answer to that is that He gave us free will, which any priest worth his salt would most certainly know.

Apart from that, it was a good take on an already over explored theme, with some nice bits of gore and violence thrown in.

I'd definitely recommend giving it a watch if the massive hole in the priest's explanation of what they are doing is ignored. It starts out as you would expect from the genre, but has it's surprises as it progresses.