After being intrigued by the buzz surrounding Immaculate at SWSX, I was genuinely curious and excited to see what Michael Mohan had in store for us. A story about immaculate conception mixed with horror sounds like it could be a fun time. Sadly, there was little fun to have here.
Starring Sydney Sweeney as Cecilia and Álvaro MorteThe Wheel of Time Series Review as Father Sal Tedeschi, Immaculate sees Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) join a coven of nuns in an idyllic Italian countryside. But things aren’t as they seem, as after only a short time and a weird celebratory night of wine-drinking and red-masked mysteries, Cecilia finds herself with a child. After some examinations by doctors and the Father, it is declared that it is indeed an immaculate conception.
Being raised up as some sort of holy being, Cecilia eventually finds out that the church she is at has a dark side to it. Having become a part of their dark plans, Cecilia must find a way out, to a hospital and put a stop to everything going on at the coven before she gives birth.
While I will say the story of Immaculate is clean and concise, with some pretty good scenes peppered in, it was boring overall. It’s pretty obvious from the onset that there is something sinister at play that Sydney Sweeny’s character just doesn’t want to see. Between offhanded comments and rambles from older nuns, it’s clear that her life is in danger, yet she refuses to leave when she has the chance.
“While I will say the story of Immaculate is clean and concise, with some pretty good scenes peppered in, it was boring overall.”
Later on in Immaculate, when she makes an attempt, we are supposed to question what is happening, but it is clear from the get-go that Cecilia is just putting on a show. That’s my biggest issue with Immaculate; I don’t like how Cecilia is portrayed. Not as a character, but it is hard to take Sydney Sweeny seriously in this setting when you surround her very clearly Pacific Northwest accent with a bunch of nuns speaking Italian. It’s rough. It would be just as bad if I went to the coven with my Canadian accent and tried to fit in.
There is just an air of believability that goes out the window very early on, and Immaculate fails to recapture it at any point. There is one critical moment when Sydney Sweeny’s acting is on point—the finale. Without giving too much away, things come to a catalyst as Father Sal and Cecilia are aware of the stakes and what it could mean. As Cecilia escapes, her situation catches up with her, making for a very uncomfortable three-minute sequence that has Sydney Sweeny bearing down the camera, and it is terrific.
It’s unfortunate that Immaculate has an incredible start. We see the last person in Cecilia’s position, and she makes a break from the coven, only to be caught in a horrendous fashion and then buried alive. It’s incredibly tense and fast-paced. This is followed by roughly sixty minutes of not-a-great thriller trying to solve the mysteries of the coven; spoilers: It’s Jurassic Park but for Jesus instead of dinosaurs.
As I mentioned, there are some cool scenes peppered in, but rarely. They all focus on Cecila coming to terms with her situation and making the best of it in some very brutally violent acts. These were a nice touch, but there does seem to be a focus in Immaculate, starting around halfway through right up until the end, that just didn’t sit right with me.
There are, at times, an unhinged amount of close-ups of Sydney Sweeny, like when she was in the bath in a white see-through top or later on when it was a wet white see-through robe. It was unnecessary, and it detracted from the tone the rest of the film was trying to establish.
“There is just an air of believability that goes out the window very early on, and Immaculate fails to recapture it at any point.”
Otherwise, the acting performances of Álvaro Morte as Father Sal Tedeschi, Benedetta Porcaroli as Sister Gwen, and Simona Tabasco as Sister Mary were all really good. They each portrayed their characters with conviction and made them feel like people dealing with real issues. It was a nice change of pace when looking at Cecilia’s character.
Time and time again, Immaculate tried to set itself up for success but couldn’t get there. After a promising start and even more incredible ending, there was just a lot of mediocre film in the middle that made the short run time feel more drawn out. It’s hard to recommend Immaculate. Horror is a genre I love, and it hurts when a movie like Immaculate comes out. It could be incredible, but instead, it brings the genre down as a whole when it focuses on premature nudity and cussing just because they can. Immaculate was not a great time.
