‘Immaculate’ Review – A Dull Catholic Horror Built On An Ending

Jacob Smith   |  

Mar 25, 2024

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With the industry strapping a rocket to her acting career, Sydney Sweeney has become the new it girl in Hollywood. And, believe it or not, Immaculate is Sweeney’s third movie released in the last 4 months. Last December’s Anyone But You was released drawing over 200 million dollars worldwide on a simple 25 million production budget.

Her latest film, the Spider-man spin-off Madame Web, was a major flop and is considered to be one of the lowest-performing superhero movies of all time. It did not hurt Sweeney’s newfound star power, however, as she has been all over the media waves after appearances on Saturday Night Live and other red-carpet events.

With all that she has accomplished in her young career, Sweeney can now throw the title of film producer on her resume as well. The actress has talked about trying to get a film called Immaculate made for quite some time; even using her appearance on Madame Web to greenlight this project.

Hollywood has a very odd relationship with the Roman Catholic Church — as much as the film industry considers itself an enemy of the teachings of biblical Christianity, they love to use Roman Catholicism as the medium of depicting the Christian faith.

That alone should raise some red flags with audiences about Hollywood’s relationship with the Roman Church but, for the sake of this film, Immaculate is a retread of the same Catholic formula that we have seen done to death over the last several years.

After nearly dying in an incident at a frozen lake, Cecilia (Sweeney) believes that God saved her to submit herself to the church. She moves to Italy to join a convent of sisters who have dedicated their lives to the Roman Church.

Cecilia assists other nuns who are in hospice care living out their final days on Earth. One day, she meets a nun who claims to have possessed the nail that was used on the cross that Christ was crucified on.

After a strange run in with a group of individuals wearing black robes and red masks, Cecilia wakes up to discover that she has become pregnant despite being a virgin.

The convent believes that Cecilia has immaculately conceived a child just like the Virgin Mary and is eventually turned into a Mary-like figure, as she begins to experience a series of horrifying health issues — leading her to wonder whether she is conceived as a child by the Holy Spirit or if something far more nefarious is happening.

Immaculate is no different than the dozens of other Catholic-based horror films from the last several years — it is the cinematic equivalent of a roller coaster that never goes up and never goes down, as it travels in a straight line. Whenever Hollywood wants to portray a dark and nefarious side of Christianity, they always pull-out Roman Catholicism because it creates a great ambiance for low-budget horror movies with demonic undertones. 

The film uses dark imagery and the secrecy of mystery religion to set the stage for the movie’s premise. By blurring the lines, the film is hoping to catch audiences off guard under the guise that, somehow, they will struggle to tell the difference between what true Christianity and cult-like religion is when it comes to setting up the twist.

This setup is done so poorly, however, that audiences will likely know what is going on from the very beginning. When the film telegraphs its twist, all tension is gone. Our protagonist is three steps behind the audience in terms of figuring out what is going on — giving the audience a false sense of suspense. When the plot is revealed, the explanation of the whole setup is not only forced but it’s also not clever enough to justify its existence.

Director Michael Mohan and writer Andrew Lobel do not have much experience on their resume — lacking in both style and vision.  As a result, Immaculate is so generic and cookie-cutter that audiences will be left going through the motions rather than experiencing any emotion through the movie.

If you’re one of those guys out there who thinks that watching this movie will be worth it just to get a view of Sydney Sweeney’s body, you’re going to be wasting your time — the actress has shown more skin in episodes of euphoria than this movie.

As far as Sweeney herself is concerned, she gives a solid performance with the very limited material she is given. The film is a very lethargic and boring. The adventure throughout the movie hinges on the audience’s interpretation of its ending. 

While Immaculate is not a terrible movie, it’s not a good movie — it is the textbook definition of ‘mid.’

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