Immaculate Review: Familiar Grounds

There is seemingly a rise in horror movies surrounding nuns. Of course, the most popular release is The Conjuring spinoff called The Nun, which made hundreds of millions at the box office. Another nun horror movie such as Sister Death (which I quite enjoyed), was released on Netflix last year. Immaculate was released in theaters on March 22nd and quickly after, on April 5th, another nun movie called The Omen. 

Subgenres of horror movies such as found footage start as novel ideas, but can quickly become very similar. When it comes to nun horror movies, they feel even more similar. While Immaculate brings something new to the table, it admittedly felt like I’ve seen most of this movie before. This Immaculate review will be spoiler-free. 

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Story: Finding God 

Immaculate follows Sister Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney), a woman who moves to a monastery in Italy to start a new role as a nun. What starts as a seemingly normal and welcoming experience, quickly divulges into something more sinister. I won’t reveal the “hook” here but I thought the premise was quite interesting in a dark way. Unfortunately getting to that point takes a while and doesn’t ultimately pay off the way I wanted it to. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the ending, because I did. I just wish they went further with the premise. I also wish it occurred earlier.

Sister Cecilia takes her vows

Before the hook occurs, we see Cecilia experience some “weird” events while also performing some uneventful chores at the monastery. These tasks are presented in more of a montage than anything else. While I did appreciate we don’t have to watch Cecilia fold clothes and perform mundane chores, I do wish there was more to the first part of the movie. It felt slow and awkwardly paced. I think part of the problem had to do with the characters. 

Characters and Performances: Scream Queen

Although there are many characters in this movie and we get to know a few, Immaculate heavily focuses on Sydney Sweeney’s sister Cecilia. There is good reason for this too as she gives a mesmerizing performance. Everyone is going to come out of the film thinking of her in the end, but she gives a great performance throughout the film. Because of the language barrier (she doesn’t fully speak Italian), we see most of her thoughts through her facial expressions. In general, I loved where Sister Cecilia was taken by the end of the movie and the progression her character goes through.

Sydney Sweeney gives one hell of a performance

Sister Gwen (Benedetta Porcaroli) befriends Sister Cecilia and has a very interesting way of looking at the entire experience. I liked her character but wished she was utilized more. Throughout the film, we briefly meet the other nuns at the monastery, but they’re forgotten about quickly afterwards. There is one nun that gives Cecilia a tour of the place and brings her to her room. She is very skeptical of Cecilia which I thought brought an interesting dynamic, but she fades into obscurity by the end of the film. She gives some of the nuns assignments…but she disappears afterwards. That is mostly the case for everyone in this film. Almost everyone.

The Antagonist 

I won’t say who (although it is very obvious) the antagonist is. I quite liked this actor but I didn’t really care for their plot line. The entire thing feels random and to be honest, a bit cartoony. I was hoping for more development and reasoning for doing what they’re doing. There were plenty of opportunities for Immaculate to tease this character’s motive, but it never does. As a result, this character unfortunately felt pretty forced.

Pacing and Editing: Monastery Life

Immaculate’s worst aspect is the pace at which it moves. The film starts off interesting, albeit a bit slow. We see Cecilia get accustomed to her new life while also running into some strange situations. These occurrences interested me as I thought they would ultimately lead to something. They never do. It’s hard to get into it without spoilers, but there is something in the film that sometimes pops up. It’s teased but ultimately doesn’t do anything. There are a couple of situations like that. This is also all before the “hook” of the film. When the hook arrives, however, Immaculate oddly starts to speed-run the event.

These chores are in many nun movies

The hook essentially changes the entire atmosphere and dynamic at the monastery. We see people reacting differently, but it all feels so hastily done. I would have liked to have seen more of life at the monastery during this change. Instead, a mystery begins to grow, but it’s the type of mystery that everyone knows the answer to. It’s obvious, and I think seeing more of life at the monastery during this time could have helped with convincing that this hook isn’t as obvious as it seems.

Don’t Look Away

Immaculate doesn’t shy away from showing violence. In terms of horror, Immaculate didn’t do anything I hadn’t seen. I mean, if I see one more horror scene during a confession, I’m going to scream. It’s so overdone at this point. There are a couple of other “scares” in the film but you can see them all coming in a mile away by how the camera is positioned. This monastery hosts many nuns who are close to passing. Many were sick and on their way out, there were many opportunities to scare the audience. There are some jump scares here too, but they follow some shots that linger for far too long. These shots build anticipation for something that should have felt sudden. 

I’ve seen enough Catholic confession scares

That’s not to say lingering shots never work though. There are some pretty tense scenes in this film, absent of cuts. Some of these scenes are incredibly brutal and not for the squeamish. Immaculate really wanted us to see how terrifying some things could be. I just wish this built-up tension didn’t dissipate by the end of the film.

Cinematography and Sound: Breath Taken Away

Immaculate primarily takes place at the monastery. It’s grand in its size and absolutely beautiful in its architecture despite how often the film tries to minimize its colors. From the beginning, the monastery felt like an unwelcoming place due to the film’s darker color palette. Being a monastery that helps sick and older nuns feel comfortable before they die, perhaps that’s the point. But again, with the hook, there is such a fake righteousness that combined with the sub-genre of nun horror, nothing felt surprising. I did enjoy seeing different parts of the monastery and was pleased to see Immaculate showcase more of the darker locations.

I’m not sure why the color palette in the film was so muted

Music was serviceable but not something I would remember. It was enough to set up certain tense moments, those typically involving lingering shots. Sometimes these moments would only be accompanied by subtle music, dominated by some of the most well-acted screams of terror I’ve heard in horror films. It’s weird, but I could feel the characters’ desperation and frustration with each scream.

Planning on going to see Immaculate? Did you see the film already? Do you agree with this Immaculate review? Let us know!