Sydney Sweeney‘s a nun on the run–or rather–a nun in training, fleeing her mysterious past, settling into a remote Italian convent. The longer she stays, the more apparent it becomes that most of the other nuns aren’t particularly happy. It turns out this convent has a habit of torturing and killing its members, particularly the ones who want to escape, and thanks to some divine intervention–let’s just say it involves a kind of conception that plays into the very apt title–she’s on track to become their #1 nun.
Immaculate is a pretty standard religious horror movie, aside from one special ingredient–Sydney Sweeney. She’s the rising star of the moment, imbuing any film she touches with a priceless level of mystique. Unfortunately, when it comes to harnessing Sweeney’s strengths as a performer, Immaculate feels less like a showcase of her real potential and more like a follow-up to her vacant presence in Madame Web. Her decidedly tranquil demeanor goes hand-in-hand with many of the attempted scares throughout Immaculate. They feel largely miscalibrated–uncertain of whether to go big or keep it subtle, achieving neither.
Take for example an earlier scene in which our heroine settles into her bed, only to be awoken by a mentally unstable nun who makes a stabbing motion with a pair of scissors–right at her head–sharp enough to cut a lock of her hair. I don’t know about you, but I’d be pretty freaked out. And in a Horror movie, I would want that level of fear to infect the audience. Not in Immaculate! Instead, Sydney calmly rises up–almost as though she’s heard faint snoring coming from the other room–and quietly suggests getting the deranged nun back to bed. Am I not supposed to be frightened here? It’s an ongoing tonal question mark. After a truly horrific, grisly death later on, Sweeney summons the energy to take a step back and open her mouth. The visuals are literally screaming bloody murder, but more often than not they’re blunted by the sound mix, the edit, or the other character’s lacklustre reactions. Sweeney‘s persistent flatness is particularly unnerving in contrast to the other nuns in the convent. They all seem to have a certain edge or rebelliousness. It’s–dare I say–interesting and enlivening! Why does Sydney–the new recruit–seem the most at peace with looking straight ahead and not asking any questions? Comfortably nun. I feel like the total opposite–Sweeney as the outsider who can smell somethingâs very off here, surrounded by complacent, brainwashed colleagues–would make more sense and create far more tension.
Immaculate isn’t a total flop. It manifests a decent degree of horror gusto in its opening and closing sequences, and ultimately Sweeney is pushed beyond her breaking point–where she can finally shine for a few key moments. But these moments also serve as a reminder of that heightened scream queen energy the majority of the movie sorely lacks. Even though the final shot makes a ringing, decisive impact, it’s too little too late. Outside of raging Sweeney fanatics and religious horror devotees, when I think of the number of people Iâd tell to go see Immaculate, itâs sadly close to none.
Elevation Pictures release IMMACULATE March 22, 2024.
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