You probably know Immaculate as that occult horror movie starring Sydney Sweeny as a nun. After all, the marketing campaign was quite aggressive, especially during the last few weeks. Moreover, not a full month later, we’ve had the pleasure of watching another nunsploitation movie, The First Omen. And let me tell you right away, that’s a far better movie than this one. Immaculate is a messy and, at times, irritating movie ultimately saved by Sydney Sweeny’s committed performance and strong visuals. It feels like one of those mockbusters, taking full advantage of not just its lead star’s popularity but also its acting skills.
When you compare The First Omen and Immaculate you see that they’re incredibly similar. Both movies feature an American nun traveling to Italy to stay at a creepy religious establishment. Believe it or not but both of them were shot at the same location, Villa Parisi, Italy! And I dare not to list any further similarities because I don’t want to spoil anything for you. I also don’t want to get bogged down in comparisons and details so let’s just move on and see what we actually have here. A serviceable occult horror movie featuring an excellent atmosphere full of dread and a stereotypical story. I commend their decision to limit the number of jump scares to a minimum.
Speaking of scares, there won’t be too many here. Moreover, apart from a couple of brief moments of graphic violence, the entire movie feels too timid. I’m not asking for blood fountains but give me something original and nasty. To counter this, we’re focusing on Sister Cecilia’s (Sydney Sweeny) torment. These scenes vary from intense to almost obnoxious. I understand what they were trying to do but watching Cecilia scream in pain at me for a full two minutes serves no purpose. We get it, she’s suffering, they fucked her over and it’s all terribly wrong but don’t beat me over the head with it all.
They intentionally wanted the viewer to feel uncomfortable during those scenes to generate at least some type of response. It all feels cheap and pretentious, a new form of emotional milking. At least we had the opportunity to see Sweeny act the shit out of these scenes. Perhaps that’s the reason why her eyes were bloodshot in most of the scenes. Although I’m hoping she was actually taking full advantage of her Italian vacation. Sydney’s quickly establishing herself as one of those all-around stars possessing both the necessary looks and acting skills to climb to the top. If you want to see a different side of her, I recommend checking out Reality, based on actual events.
Sadly, Immaculate focuses solely on her while the other characters are completely underdeveloped. And the same goes for the main story. I wish we could learn more about this strange place and why all of this is happening in the first place. For example, the Polish Netflix masterpiece Hellhole does a terrific job of doing exactly this. A small exposition dump never hurt anybody. Still, charming Benedetta Porcaroli was mesmerizing as Sister Gwen while Álvaro Morte could’ve done a better job as Father Sal Tedeschi.
It was also cool to see young Simona Tabasco whom you might remember from the second season of The White Lotus. The short running time of just eighty minutes is another plus along with an authentic Italian setting. So, if you’re looking for a forgettable horror with an occult twist, Immaculate will do just fine. I’ve noticed a lot of people are comparing it to St. Maude, a movie I’m yet to watch so there’s that.
Director: Michael Mohan
Writer: Andrew Lobel
Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Simona Tabasco, Giorgio Colangeli, Dora Romano
Fun Facts: The movie was in developmental hell for more than 10 years. Sweeny decided to revisit it once she had enough star power and money to push it into production after buying the rights. A lot of the story was altered since the original script was about a group of high school girls.
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23137390/
