Immaculate had potential as a horror film but fell short of expectations.
An American nun (Sydney Sweeney) embarks on a new journey when she joins a remote convent in the Italian countryside. However, her warm welcome quickly turns into a living nightmare when she discovers her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors.
Immaculate is a horror movie that effectively uses various techniques to intensify the scare factor by incorporating the setting and mood of the film. The movie has a magnificent aesthetic that immerses the audience in the Italian convent. The tall and imposing hallowed halls, designed in the classic European style, create a foreboding atmosphere. The statues and paintings present in the monastery add to the eerie ambiance and tell their own stories that further contribute to the film’s creepy tone.
The music used in Immaculate is also noteworthy as it complements the characters’ frightened expressions, and the various memorabilia in the film adds to the overall unsettling feeling. The film’s lighting is another significant element that creates a monster of its own. The shadows that the limited light of flames cast on the walls make the safety of the monastery an illusion.
And sometimes, even the light is not enough to protect the characters from the lurking threats that do not care about being seen. Towards the end of the film, the darkness becomes even more stifling and claustrophobic, making the audience feel uneasy and heavy.
The makeup department brought their A-game to the movie, creating fantastic visual effects that added to the disturbing context of the plot. The movie is loaded with moments that maximize prosthetics and manual effects, conveying true body horror and injury. The main character undergoes transformations that hold such realism, which adds to the element of horror that fans adore and some (like me) shiver at some of the things done in this film.
The cast delivers solid acting performances, with a majority forming an aura of intensity that is a complex mixture of stern, safe, and scary at the start before the pieces start to sink in. The way they deliver their lines holds so much tension and emotion, with their rich Italian accents that go with the motives and further deliver the deranged secrets of the movie.
Sydney Sweeney stands out as the essence of the acting, carrying the movie on her shoulders with her massive talent to pull off an incredible performance. She is a natural in this world, conveying fear and stress to shockingly amazing degrees and giving us her best portrayal of suffering. Her performance is the strongest part of this movie for me. I was blown away by just how authentic her performance was, and the balance she brought with every shot was incredible.
Overall, Immaculate had a promising start and delivered on the horror element with fantastic atmosphere, lighting, music, and special effects that brought the spooky scenes to life. The premise was alluring and Sydney Sweeney’s acting was noteworthy, but unfortunately, her talent was not enough to save the movie from becoming another bland horror movie. The small twist to the story failed to alter the predictability, and the ending lacked a unique or haunting finish. The characters’ lackluster performances and unengaging story arcs added to the disappointment. Despite the shortcomings, watching Immaculate in a dark theatre with strangers is an experience worth having.
Immaculate is now playing in theaters.
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