Immaculate film review: Sydney Sweeney in overly basic horror
Immaculate film review and star rating: ★★
Sydney Sweeney is the star of the moment, with her success in TV show Euphoria and rom-com
Anyone But You overriding recent megaflop Madame Web. Even she has joked
that her sex symbol status may not immediately align with playing the role of a Nun, but variety is the spice of life, and here she is in a coif in new horror film Immaculate.
She plays Cecilia, a young American Nun who accepts a position at a reclusive Italian convent caring
for elderly Sisters. After observing some odd behaviour, she is shocked to discover she is pregnant
despite having never had sex. What first seems like a miracle soon becomes a nightmare.
Sweeney gives her all as a would-be Scream Queen, but the film doesn’t reward her effort. Relying
too often on lazy tropes and shock scares, there’s so much time spent trying to make you jump that
by the time the convent’s dark secrets are unveiled it barely seems to matter.
There is a prime opportunity for subtext about issues to do with abuses in The Church, but for the most part that’s avoided. There are some hints of corruption in Álvaro Morte’s fanatical priest Father Sal Tedeschi, but the religious symbolism is mainly for creepy aesthetics.
To her credit, Sydney Sweeney puts emotion into the piece. She captures the inherent innocence of
the character, and does a great job of portraying her journey from naive newbie to someone fighting
for their life. A star despite the material, those coming along to the film solely for her won’t be
disappointed.
Immaculate is a noisy, unsophisticated horror that might prove to be a crowd-pleaser given the
popularity of its star. However, it’s unlikely to be considered a genre classic.
Immaculate is in cinemas from 22 March.
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