Written by Andrew Lobel
Directed by Michael Mohan
Sister Cecelia: "I know God saved me for a reason but I'm still searching for what that reason is."
Time for a religious experience. I'm sure this film won't be unsettling at all. Well, that a brief hope but then we had an opening scene where poor Sister Mary (Simona Tabosa) got buried alive for trying to escape a Roman Catholic convent. That scene alone was the tip of the brutalness we'd get here.
For the main focus pivoted around a young nun named Cecelia (Sydney Sweeney). An American nun who was brought to the same Roman Catholic convent that Sister Mary failed to escape from. For Sister Cecelia, she was about to undergo one hellish experience throughout the movie.
The experience being a mysterious pregnancy and one that Father Sal Tedeschi (Alvaro Morte) would take an overt interest. During the first half of this movie he appeared to be an ally to Cecelia, sympathetically listening to what drove her into the church in the first place but then, Cecelia's miraculous pregnancy changed everything at the convent.
There was fellow Sister Isabelle (Guilia Heathfield Di Renzi) trying to murder Cecelia and berating the latter for being chosen instead of her while poor Sister Gwen (Benedetta Porcaroli) also paid the price for trying to warn about the strange goings on. Of course, for Cecelia, it'd only get worse.
With her health getting worse, nuns dying around her and a conveniently placed warning via 2 Corinthians 11: 14, it turned out that Cecelia's pregnancy was more planned than divine intervention. I mean, not that much of a shocker but for poor Cecelia, finding out that she was a pawn in a much larger scheme wasn't what she was hoping for.
The idea of the convent using nuns to try and bring about the next messiah was delightfully demented as an idea. No wonder Cecelia ended up snapping as she ended up killing Deacon Enzo (Giuseppe Lo Piccolo), the Mother Superior (Dora Romano) and of course, the mastermind himself, Tedeschi while the birth scene itself and how Cecelia dealt with the "miracle" ended this movie on a dicey note.
- Sydney Sweeney auditioned for this movie a decade ago, it didn't work out back then and a few years ago she got a director and the movie made.
- The movie literally has it's own "twin movie" with The First Omen, which came out the same month and with the same idea.
- Standout music: Carol Of The Bells and Ave Maria, the latter used in an unsettling way.
- Chronology: I initially thought this was going to be a movie set in the past but a few incidents did indicate it was a present day story.
Immaculate made for a rather creepy look into religious horror, evoking a seemingly forgotten subgenre of film while giving a stellar performance from Sydney Sweeney and good scares and gore. However the third act/trimester did feel a tad rushed but other than that, I liked this one.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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