Immaculate , director Michael Mohan ’s new homage to the nunsploitation picture show of the seventies and the pearl - breaking , pedigree - gazump giallo kit and caboodle of the same tenner , is as no - nonsense as a horror pic can get . Its stale out-of-doors , which follows a desperate young nun ( The White Lotusseason 2breakout star Simona Tabasco ) as she tries to escape an Italian convent in the heart of the dark , waste little fourth dimension find to its climactic illustration of tum - boil violence . The moment in question , destined to provoke plenty of screams in movie theatre around the man , expertly rides the line between inevitable and shocking . Even more importantly , it announces the danger of the moving-picture show ’s context and Mohan ’s punchy , jounce - base approach to its story right out of the gate .
From there , the film lives up to its other promises . Mohan drape its central , centuries - old countryside Italian convent in countless red flags , whether it be the distant sobs of its worshippers ’ fanatic appeal , the comically flashy creaks of its door and floorboards , or an senior nun who wanders through its halls at night like a ghost . The film maker packsImmaculate‘s first two turn with startling cuts and rise scare , most of which are accompanied by shrill screams or loud crashes . Some feel more earned than others , but they all come with the same sly , knowing New York minute . Immaculateis a film that know what it is and what it ’s doing at all time , and that allows it to achieve a level of controller over you that makes many of its 89 arcminute reach with brute efficiency .
A pleasingly off-the-wall mishmash of horror influences , Immaculate‘s plot is partRosemary ’s Baby , partSuspiria . Andrew Lobel ’s script follows Sister Cecilia ( Madame Webstar Sydney Sweeney ) , a naïve young nun from Michigan who relocates to an Italian convent at the request of its head non-Christian priest , the apparently favorable Father Sal Tedeschi ( Álvaro Morte ) . While there , she quickly bond with one of the convent ’s other vernal conical buoy , Gwen ( Benedetta Porcaroli ) , and finds herself plagued by unsettling visions at dark . Shortly after arriving at the convent , Cecilia ’s life is upended when she discovers that she has dead become pregnant .
Cecilia ’s maternity leads Tedeschi , the local Catholic Richmondena Cardinalis , Franco Merola ( Giorgio Colangeli ) , and the convent ’s mother superior ( Dora Romano ) to herald her as a 2d Virgin Mary . Mohan pock this narrative shift with a showstopping shot of a veiled Sweeney stand solemnly , tears brim at the edges of her eyes , on a Christian church ’s highest balcony as those around her bow and implore in her honour . The figure of speech , its visual splendor sharpened and twist by Cecilia ’s offended expression , concisely put the stage for what is to arrive once Cecilia get down to marvel whether the condition surrounding her pregnancy are really as marvelous as she ’s been led to believe .
Immaculatewisely does n’t shroud Cecilia ’s berth in too much enigma for too long . After clew looker in early on to the dangers that lurk beneath the surface of her Modern Italian home , the film steady unclothe back more and more of its layer before ultimately uncover the disturbing accuracy at the center of its story . Once Cecilia has become pregnant , Mohan and editor in chief Christian Masini allow her suspicions to uprise at a rattling pace that just further reinforces the overriding common sense that both she and the film ’s audience are lock into a drive that they have little control over . The speedy spectacular escalation of its second half helps make up for the insipidness ofImmaculate‘s first act , which rely on little more than a fistful of purposefully overdone , occasionally contrived jump scares to keep its momentum up .
The percussive , cut - repel nature of the film ’s first 50 minutes only lay down Mohan ’s transition into a more patient style in its last third all the more impactful . The theater director buildsImmaculate‘s climax largely out of controlled , unflinching dig that force the viewer to experience the full weight of every one of its final beats and feel every emotion that Sweeney ’s Cecilia does in literal time . The film ’s final scene stylistically stomach in stark contrast to those that make up its first one-half , but rather than coming across as a jarring misestimation , Mohan ’s eventual shift in approach sense like a ocular progression that absolutely match the evolution ofImmaculate‘s story . By forcing viewer to model in certain moments longer than he has any other , the theatre director also reach the movie ’s go - for - broke , in - your - face conclusion feel all the more splanchnic .
The artistic choice that Mohan makes in the film ’s gonzo , unforgettable third act depend entirely on Sweeney ’s ability to sell Cecilia ’s final girl - esque electric discharge , which she more than does . In recent months , Sweeney has cement her office as one of the biggest untried star of her contemporaries , and her functioning inImmaculatereminds you why she down role on shows likeThe Handmaid ’s Tale , Sharp Objects , Euphoria , and Mohan ’s own underratedNetflix original seriesEverything Sucks!in the first spot . Cecilia is a role that asks her to play both Energy Department - eyed naivete and gritted - tooth rage , and she not only does so with equal intensity , but she even more impressively cause her character ’s journeying from one emotional extreme point to another seem natural .
Immaculatemarks Sweeney and Mohan ’s third collaboration after their oeuvre together onEverything Sucks!and the underseen 2021 erotic thriller , The Peeping Tom . Their late pic , though a bit narratively undercooked , makes it clear why the two are a skilful match for each other . In Mohan , Sweeney has found a filmmaker who will let her go to darker and more provocative places than many of his peers . In Sweeney , Mohan has discover a performing artist capable of anchoring even the most heightened musical style photographic film in identifiable , frequently terrifying shades of world . WithImmaculate , they ’ve made a repugnance movie that is misleadingly straightforward in both its style and telling . It so effectively traps you in its compass that you do n’t even realize how hard it ’s going to hit you until it ’s already too late .
Immaculateis now playing in theaters .
