Catholicism, the oldest of Christian religions, has been the subject of most religiously-themed horror films. With eerie gothic cathedrals, ancient relics, and images of sacrifice and death, the Catholic church has — fairly or not — been at the center of movies ranging from possessions and exorcisms to murder and various types of scandals. Some films, like The Exorcist, become iconic. Others are quickly forgotten. Most, from Amityville to The Nun, rely on faith to win the war between good and evil. In the new film Immaculate, however, we are asked to consider whether faith itself is the real enemy.
Sydney Sweeney stars as Sister Cecilia, an American novitiate who has just been transferred to work at a convent in the Italian countryside on the eve of her vows. The convent was built in the 1600s over the catacombs of Saint Stephen and is a beautifully preserved campus that now serves as a convalescent home for aging and dying nuns. A few weeks after arriving, Sister Cecilia, a perfect example of devotion and piety, is stunned to learn she is pregnant. And after a thorough interrogation by church leaders, Father Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte) and Cardinal Merola (Giorgio Colangeli) declare an immaculate conception.
Sweeney has gone from one-off TV appearances to bona fide movie star in just a few short years. Her variety of roles have displayed a range that make her well suited to a character like Sister Cecilia, who goes from shy expat to primal rage in just 89 minutes. Sweeney’s performance is so watchable and interesting that it isn’t until the credits roll that the film itself starts to collapse under the weight of lofty intentions unfulfilled.
Written by Andrew Lobel and directed by Michael Mohan, Immaculate is an attempt to challenge concepts of blind faith and the lack of female autonomy, particularly in religious circles. Though there are one or two effective thrills, most of the supposedly scary moments are cheap rip-offs from better movies. Faces obscured by featureless red masks, attempted drownings, disappearing allies, zealots, revelations. There are so many ideas at play and some of them may have worked if not for the insistence on falling back to tired, overly familiar tropes.
Sydney Sweeney stars in IMMACULATE — Image courtesy of NEON
The biggest issue with Immaculate, though, is bigger than clichéd horror. It is in the way all efforts toward attempted feminism are squandered by poor character development. Although Sister Cecilia is clearly a little freaked out by her sudden predicament, she never has an opportunity to express what she really feels. Not to anyone around her. Not even to herself. She seems to be a young woman of at least average intelligence, and yet she never asks some very basic, relatable questions about how this happened. What is the plan for raising this child? Does she actually wonder if this is a work of good or evil?
Sister Cecilia accepts her fate without much consideration for any possible explanation beyond what the men in charge tell her. Which, in itself could have been an interesting part of her journey if it had actually been any part of her arc. It was not. And because we never see her doubts, never really see a hint of the breakdown of her belief beyond wanting to go out and see a real doctor, the eventual turn Cecilia takes feels out of nowhere. The choices she makes in the unhinged final minutes haven’t had room to breathe and grow and therefore lack the cathartic gut-punch they deserve.
Ultimately, Immaculate relies too heavily on a shocking final moment as a substitute for inadequate storytelling. In a direct assault on religion, Mohan dares viewers to challenge him. With just a few more minutes of runtime to expound on certain philosophical ideas, he could have succeeded in sparking great conversation.
