IMMACULATE (2024)

Streaming on Hulu!

Directed by Michael Mohan.
Written by Andrew Lobel.
Check out the trailer here!!

Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) is a young American nun arriving at an Italian convent. She is welcomed with open arms, but soon after her arrival, Cecilia finds out she is pregnant, even though she attests she is a virgin. While Cecilia and her fellow nuns believe she is a part of the immaculate conception, destined to birth the new Jesus, some doubt her honesty and purity. All are ignorant to what is really happening—a deeply secretive plot to bring the AntiChrist into this world.

I think it is unfair to compare IMMACULATE with THE FIRST OMEN, but because both hit theaters within months of each other and also have very similar plots, comparisons are going to be inevitable. I’m sure neither film knew the other was being made and it was some ad wizards who decided to toss them out at the same time. IMMACULATE is a perfectly fine religious horror film and has a very very exceptional parts, which I will get into in a second. But compared to the tactile and potent horror on display in THE FIRST OMEN, IMMACULATE pales in comparison.

One thing that makes IMMACULATE a standout is that it captures a star on the rise. Sydney Sweeney has made a name for herself by oozing sex appeal. Her whispery and monotone voice and those sleepy eyes, along with a body that won’t quit, have made her a Hollywood starlet overnight. It is admirable that Sweeney goes against type and plays a nun here. And though there are multiple scenes of nudity and it is hard to cover Sweeney’s curves with a nun’s habit, she does show off her acting talents here, commanding most scenes she is in. Still, there has been a long history of nunsploitatipn films that fetishized those ladies of the cloth, and IMMACULATE seems to shamelessly take advantage of Sweeny’s sex appeal, despite her devout acting. Its these sleazy aspects such as multiple scenes of Sweeney in the shower or bath and in various states of undress, that seems to be fully embraced by the director, even though Sweeney is treating it all like Shakespeare. Good for her for trying to make the film better than it really deserves to be.

While gory and violent, one of the things that separates IMMACULATE from THE FIRST OMEN is that the latter is up close and personal during these scenes of horror. You feel the horrors going on in THE FIRST OMEN on a tactile level. IMMACULATE takes a more traditional view of the spooky and disgusting parts. It stands back and amps the oddity of the convent, the nuns, and the gruesome and scary acts and details they convey. Because of that, IMMACULATE’s gore, and there is a plenty, is less effective.

That is, except for one scene. Close to the end, we do get right up in the face of Sidney Sweeney, and these are the most compelling moments of the film, making it stand out among many of its genre. Had more of the film been as in your face as these final, raw moments, it would have been a much more effective movie. While IMMACULATE contains a lot of gruesome and downright blasphemous scenes that work in an icky ooky way, they feel like standard operating procedure for an antichrist horror movie. It’s this final scene that elevates this film, makes it dangerous, and highlights Sidney Sweeney’s talent as a talented and brave actress.

I think any other year, IMMACULATE would have made more of an impact. It is an effective little nunsploitatipn flick. But because it was released the same year as THE FIRST OMEN, a much more superior film, it feels more like your run of the mill religious horror film. I had fun with the film as it goes through the motions of blasphemous religious imagery, fetishized nunny stuff, and effective gore. But despite its in your face ending, it fails to stand apart from many, many other movies in this subgenre of horror.