Blasphemous, sacrilegious, and ethically disturbing are just a few of the adjectives that can describe Michael Mohan’s Immaculate.
Taking place in a rural convent in the hills of Italy, American nun Sister Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) embarks upon a religious quest for solitude after the closure of her local parish in the United States. Her jubilant acceptance by the other sisters into the community portrays a pseudo-facade of holiness and devotion to their savior Jesus Christ.
The movie begins with Cecilia learning the ropes of the grueling work as a nun in the convent, but soon finding herself the mother of an immaculate conception. After a thorough investigation by the church proving her virginity, the conception is declared a miracle and she is celebrated within the convent as the mother of the second coming of Jesus Christ.
The discovery of her miraculous conception causes a rift between the members of the convent, and even leads to a sister throwing herself from the roof of the estate exclaiming, “It was supposed to be me.”
The oddities that arise from this conception clue the viewer into a more sinister motive of the leaders of the convent and make them question the true immaculate nature of the conception.
From acting, to set design, and cinematography, this movie flourishes in every department.
With beautiful costumes and gilded chapels, the viewer feels immersed in the initially romanticized convent in Italy.
With previous performances in other roles such as Euphoria and Anyone but You, it was questionable whether Sweeney would be able to take on such a daunting horror role, incongruent with her previous works.
But as soon as she waltzed on the screen donning her stunning nun habit, her acting as the role of the second virgin mother proved Sweeney’s undeniable talent.
Supporting performance by Spanish actor Álvaro Morte as a less-than-holy priest left the entire audience breathless, as he perpetrated numerous acts of evil, juxtaposed with his duties as a servant of God.
Nearly every aspect of Immaculate checked the box for an amazing horror movie—from jaw-dropping moments breaking long periods of suspense to gruesome images showing the unimaginable in an almost too realistic fashion. In a peak-horror moment, Sweeney let out one of the best horror screams seen in the genre.
Yet, one aspect of its content may make viewers question the movie’s ethics.
The sub-genre of church horror with movies like The Nun or The Conjuring has used the church merely as the backdrop for horrific events unfolding in a tasteful manner, playing to a supernatural element so grandiose it seems unfathomable in the context of an actual church.
As the events of Immaculate unfold, however, Immaculate’s horror lies in the wickedness of mankind, and less so in the supernatural. The closing scene of the film is upsetting to the core, and any Christian who views this film should be wary of it as the last scene creates a poignant ethical and religious turmoil.
Immaculate achieves every facet of a beautifully constructed horror movie, aside from the ability to know what is and what is not “too far” in terms of religious matters.
The ending leaves the viewer pondering the societal and religious implications it entails, but perhaps that was what Mohan hoped to achieve with this hauntingly ambitious film.
