IMMACULATE (2024) – Disappointing Sydney Sweeney outing
Rating: ⭐1/2
Sydney Sweeney is one of my favourite young actresses today. Immaculate marks the first time she is involved in a horror movie, and I was curious to see how she would fare in this genre. I was encouraged by a number of glowing reviews of her performance here as Cecilia, a nun who joins a small convent in Italy. Sydney Sweeney is hardly “nun material” and it would take quite a bit to pull this act off convincingly.
Unfortunately, I have to disagree with the critics that were raving about the movie and Sydney’s performance. Apart from the part towards the end where she gives her all in a birth giving scene, she was pretty ordinary in the rest of the movie. I failed to be convinced by her character’s aspiration to become a nun which is key to getting our buy-in to the whole plot. None of the side characters are developed enough for us to have any sympathy with. They are the standard one-dimensional characters whose sole purpose is to provide leads to the next scare. The story is also pretty preposterous and appears to be largely motivated to give the excuse to be blasphemous. As the title implies the story has us believe that our main character, Sister Cecilia has an immaculate conception. Naturally there is something sinister going on here but unfortunately the film does not explicitly provide the details on how this “trickery” was actually executed.
Another thing that was disappointing is the way the whole movie looked. It was too dark all the time even in the daytime, making it difficult to see the details. It is a pity because the rustic medieval look of the old convent and the Italian landscape is lost and goes unappreciated. The final act with Cecilia’s attempts to escape while being very pregnant was too incredible for us to swallow.
On the plus side, the film is mercifully short, we have Sydney Sweeney and at least its beginning was interesting. Director Michael Mohan needs to try harder. Interestingly this is his second collaboration with Sydney Sweeney, the previous one being The Voyeurs, which was at least more compelling to watch.