Immaculate Review

Immaculate is a religious horror film that sees its star, Sydney Sweeney, work as a producer.

Sister Cecilia (Sweeney) is a young American nun who believes she is meant to serve God after surviving a near-death experience as a child. She travels to Italy to serve in a convent that cares for nuns nearing the end of their lives. At the convent, Cecilia discovers she’s pregnant even though she’s a virgin and the church believes she’s carrying a miracle, the second coming. Yet Cecilia discovers there are sinister goings on at the convent.

Numerous religious horror films have been released in recent years. There has been Prey for the Devil, The Pope’s Exorcist, and The Nun series. Many of these films have been overly familiar exorcism films. One of them, The Exorcist: Believer was a poor attempt at being a legacy sequel to the 1973 classic. Immaculate aimed to be different being a throwback to nunsploitation movies and aiming to be more like Rosemary’s Baby.

Immaculate did the basics right. It had a solid setup for a horror film since Cecilia was held hostage by the authorities at the convent and her condition made escape difficult. She was trapped in a double prison. It also meant most of the action took place in and around one building, which is typical for a horror film. There was a grittiness to the film due to the dark historic setting and the filmmakers did embrace the religious nature of the setting, as shown with the various ceremonies and musical score. Some suspension of disbelief is required, but considering Immaculate’s premise this was hardly a surprise. It wasn’t the first horror film to examine the Second Coming or religious manipulation. Immaculate was nowhere near as silly as Night Swim which was about a haunted swimming pool which was released earlier in 2024.

Immaculate didn’t pussy foot around with its violence. It has so far stood out against the current crop of 2024 horror films like Lisa Frankenstein and Imaginary which had PG-13 ratings in the US. Immaculate was a full-blown R-rated horror film, in the UK it had an 18 rating just because of its violence. Immaculate did feel like a torture film from the noughties i.e. Saw and Hostel due to the suffering some of the characters went through. There was a lot of blood in this film and there were moments that would make even the most hardened soul wince. I felt grossed out during a moment involving a fingernail. The final act was intense, and the final scene was a great showcase for Sweeney’s acting talent.

As well as violence, Immaculate was able to have a creep factor with mysterious people in cloaks and masks roaming around the convent. It wouldn’t be a religious horror film if there weren’t a shady cult involved. Immaculate relied on a loud sound design to earn a reaction from the audience. There was one scene when Cecilia was in confession and the filmmakers were trying to build up the tension before a jump scare. It was obvious but I did jump at the loud noise.

The film served as a vehicle for Sydney Sweeney. Her star has been rising. Sweeney is known for being a part of the Euphoria ensemble that included Zendaya, Storm Reid, and Hunter Schafer, and she starred in the sleeper hit Anyone but You. Sweeney’s Cecilia did have a solid character arc as she started as a sweet, polite, and naïve young woman who slowly realised the gravity of her situation. Cecilia’s kindness made her a character to route for since she was a believer, who cared for the elderly patients and formed a friendship with another young nun. Cecilia’s arc plays into the biggest theme of the film where a woman her to fight for her bodily autonomy. It offers up a bit of social commentary considering recent events in the United States.

Immaculate wasn’t a revolutionary film in the horror genre, but it does work as a throwback to trashy horror films of the ’70s and tap into an audience’s more sadistic side.