Immaculate

Film: Immaculate

Year: 2024

Director: Michael Mohan

Writer: Andrew Lobel

Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte and Simona Tabasco

Review:

This is a movie that when I saw a bit of the trailer at the Gateway Film Center, I knew that I was in. I’m a fan of religious based horror films. Seeing the title, I had a feeling that this was a play on the immaculate conception. I was curious where this would go and got to see this opening night at the theater. This was a movie that I was excited about this year. I’ve now also given it a second watch for my end of year list.

Synopsis: Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney), a woman of devout faith, is warmly welcomed to the picture-perfect Italian countryside where she is offered a new role at an illustrious convent. But it becomes clear to her that her new home harbors dark and horrifying secrets.

We start this off with a nun saying her prayers before bed. She has other plans though. She packed a bag, snuck into her Mother Superior’s room and took a set of keys. She sneaks out of the convent, but passing through a gate, a searchlight comes on. Our nun makes it to the outer gate. She is chased by a group in masks. Things don’t end well when they catch her.

This then shifts to Sister Cecilia coming to Italy. She is held up by two customs officials. It is here that we learn she is from America and came with no return ticket so this is a red flag. We will learn that her parish has closed and she was offered a spot here by Father Sal Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte). Something to point out here, the customs officials make comments about her looks. They question her resolve to be a nun, but she is devout in her choice.

She is then taken to the convent. It is there she meets Mother Superior (Dora Romano) and Sister Isabelle (Giulia Heathfield Di Renzi). The latter dislikes her and makes it known. She is pushing for Cecilia to return to America. Our lead also meets Sister Gwen (Benedetta Porcaroli). She had a rough life before becoming a nun. These two became fast friends.

That night she takes her vows and she meets Father Tedeschi. He takes a liking to her and helps translates. It is from there Cecilia settled in. That is until she gets sick while bathing. She is examined by Dr. Gallo (Giampiero Judica) and questioned by Cardinal Franco Merola (Giorgio Colangeli). They grill her about fulfilling her vows and if they’ve had any visitors at the convent. The reason being that Cecilia is pregnant. They confirm that is a virgin and that this is a miracle. Things don’t seem right and Gwen pushes this. The more that Cecilia learns, the more she thinks her friend could be right.

I think that is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I’m a big fan of this subgenre as I’ve alluded to in my opening. There are good elements here. It feels like it is borrowing from Suspiria with aspects of the set up. That hit me while in the theater. Something else to point out in the opening, this explores elements of science vs. religion that works for me as well.

Now that I’ve said that, let me delve deeper. I’ll start with the Suspiria references. We have Sister Cecilia coming from America to Italy. Instead of going to a dance academy, she is joining this convent. We also have her befriending someone there who is suspicious of those in charge and investigating them for proof. Cecilia doesn’t believe but discovers things for herself that make her believe what she was told originally. There are also secrets being held here as well. This is more surface level than pulling directly though, I did want to say that.

Where I’ll then go would be the idea of science vs. religion. We learn here that Cecilia almost died as a child in an accident with ice. She was clinically dead for seven minutes. She felt that there was a divine intervention to bring her back. Now personally, I’m an atheist. To me, this just seems like the paramedics did their job and had a bit of luck. Father Tedeschi was a biologist before becoming a priest. I’m glad that this got introduced because it plays in later. There is also the main thing here about Cecilia becoming pregnant despite being a virgin. It makes you wonder if this is a miracle or if there’s something else at play. I like how it takes time for the reveal as this does have Rosemary’s Baby vibes, minus the rape scene in that classic. Cecilia does become lightheaded and passes out her first night there, like Rosemary.

This next bit is that under the surface is social commentary that I saw someone include in their review. We can view this with the debate about pro-life vs. pro-choice. Cecilia didn’t have a choice in getting pregnant. She is told by the convent that it is a miracle so she must carry the child. The more that she learns though, the more she wants to be rid of it. She isn’t given a choice in this so you can argue that it is a rape, whether there is a logical answer or a divine one. Where this ends up is brutal and I’m shocked they went there to be honest. I’m glad that it did as it punctuates what it is trying to say.

That should be enough for the story so over to the acting. I thought that Sweeney turned in a good performance. I’m not overly familiar with her. I find her attractive and that seems to be part of why she works here. She also does a great job though of showing a range of emotions as she learns the truth of her condition. I appreciated that. She is unwell due to her pregnancy so that causes her to be subdued as well. Morte is good as this priest that we trust in the beginning. The more we learn, the more we question his motives. I like Porcaroli as Cecilia’s friend. She starts making her question things which is good. Colangeli, Romano, Di Renzi and the rest of the nuns as well as patients at this convent are good for what was needed. There’s a creepy factor there since this place is almost like the church’s hospice. It is fitting that Cecilia becomes pregnant here.

All that is left then is filmmaking. First, I have to say that I love the setting. This isolated convent is good. Characters can’t just leave so they’re isolated and that adds tension. This is shot well. I thought the cinematography was good. How they frame things works. This does relay on jump-scares. I don’t know if we need them as this isn’t that type of movie. The effects we got though were good. We see things that made me cringe so credit there. The blood looks good. This also goes places I wasn’t expecting. Lastly is the soundtrack. I thought it was good to fit the tone. It helps build the atmosphere. I would be remiss if I didn’t give them credit for using Bruno Nicolai’s theme for The Red Queen Dies Seven Times. When I heard that I couldn’t place it, but it’s a song I know quite well despite at the time of writing this not having seen that giallo.

In conclusion, I like what this movie was doing. I wasn’t sure the route they would take. The setting is good by having this at an isolated convent like this. The concepts and ideas explored are in my wheelhouse. I like that there’s social commentary you can pull here, but that isn’t in your face. Sweeney was good along with Morte. No issues there. This is also well-made from the cinematography to the effects and the soundtrack. This one shot up into my top five of the year for horror. Upon my rewatch, I’m not sure that it is going to stay where it did earlier this year. It did solidify its rating for me though.

My Rating: 8 out of 10