Immaculate: Film Review
Immaculate marks Sydney Sweeney‘s third movie release in the space of three months – after Anyone But You and Madame Web – and she’s definitely saved the best one for last.
In this horror, she plays Cecilia, an American nun who moves to a convent in Italy. The convent is hiding some deep dark secrets, which Cecilia uncovers when she miraculously falls pregnant.
Immaculate is a bloody and brutal body horror filled with shocking imagery of violence and gore. While it’s not super scary overall (a couple of jump scares got me though), I cannot fault the creepy, tense atmosphere, the gnarly kills, wince-inducing body horror moments and the surprisingly funny lines of dialogue.
The situation escalates as Cecilia progresses throughout her pregnancy and the final act is epic. In the final five minutes, the narrative levels up and goes batshit crazy. The ending is the most extreme, memorable and disturbing I’ve seen in some time. Some people might not like it but I found it thrilling, exciting and very entertaining – and I wish we’d had more of that go-for-broke vibe in the rest of the movie.
The film is only 89 minutes long and whips by at a clip. While I love a story that wastes no time and leaves people wanting more, the story is a bit lightweight and I came away with questions. I wanted to know more about the history of the convent and a list of everybody who was in on the secrets! More of the red-masked nuns would have been good too.
Immaculate marks Sweeney’s first film as a producer and she was heavily involved in every aspect of the project. She auditioned for this movie 10 years ago but it never got made so she reached out to the screenwriter Andrew Lobel when she wanted to make a horror. This film showcases all her strengths and proves she is a top-tier scream queen! There is an unbroken two-minute take of her letting out a feral, guttural scream of pain and it is extraordinary. I can already see the memes and GIFs!
This horror is a fun time at the movies. Make sure you see it with a crowd!
In cinemas from Friday 22nd March
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