'Immaculate' movie review: More of a sharply edged thriller than a horror movie

Still from `Immaculate`

Film: Immaculate
Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano, Giorgio Colangeli, Simona Tabasco, Giampiero Judica, Niccolò Senni
Director: Michael Mohan
Rating: 3/5
Runtime: 89 min.

‘Immaculate' scripted by Andrew Lobel is a smart horror-thriller that uses religious iconography and beliefs to raise the bar on ‘horror' storytelling. This film actually has a well-defined story to tell. The narrative harbors around a remote convent where withered old Nuns are sent to breathe their last in convalescent comfort. Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) is the novice Nun transferred there to firm up her vows. She is welcomed warmly into the cloister but soon finds herself experiencing unspeakable horrors in the name of resurrecting a more than 3000 year old past.

Cecilia's devotion comes from an incident in her youth - her having survived a childhood accident on a frozen lake that should have killed her. And she is chosen for the experiment mainly because her virtue has been tested and has been found unquestionable. Of course, Cecilia is just a clueless pawn in the whole set-up.

For the audience it's already clear that this ‘Cloister' hides unspeakable horrors. We've already seen a prologue in which a young woman has her leg brutally broken and then she is dragged and buried alive in the catacombs by sisters in red masks. After Cecelia arrives there, she is struck by visions, and furthermore unsettled by some of the nuns there.

The film is rather straightforward in its attempt to showcase the horrific lengths the religiously indoctrinated will go to in order to resurrect the past. It's not a social commentary but a fictitious creation of an unspeakable doctoring that sounds horrific and plays out in grotesque fashion. The film is beautifully lit with the cinematography hearkening back to an era of Italian horror remarkable for its storytelling flair.The cinematography is beautiful, each frame has a haunting incandescence that is inveigling. Unfortunately there's no thematic thrust to shore up the narrative's confining indictment on the opaqueness that the practitioners of religion operate under.

‘Immaculate,' the title itself is the big reveal. There's not much explanation forthcoming from the narrative itself. Director Micheal Mohan and scriptwriter Andrew Lobel don't tell us how the experiment of impregnating the victim happens when its made quite clear that she hasn't indulged in any intercourse.

The jump scares don't work but the scenes of excess are torturous and repulsive enough to suggest horror. The mix of sepulchral organ music and Roman Catholic choral singing help develop a grim and ominous atmosphere. The shadowy sequences hint at something evil being hidden behind a faithful veneer. Unfortunately, the tension doesn't sustain for long. The audience is left to decipher crucial links without any explanation and that puts the brakes on this being an altogether immersive experience. Michael Mohan fails to sustain mood or maintain atmosphere in his telling. Sweeney is the one to capture our attention. She elevates the proceedings with a performance that is gravitating. She is able to make her character both believable and sympathetic and that's the main draw here.