Star power and screen presence of Sydney Sweeney aside, her current run as a producer with her company Fifty-Fifty Films has put Sweeney on the map as an actor whose nose for interesting films that won’t just entertain audiences (much like her recent rom-com smash-hit Anyone but You), but will subvert their expectations as to the roles she picks, has made her an interesting actor to keep an eye on. And Sweeney is ready to make a bold move in shocking audiences with Immaculate, of which she stars in and has produced.
The nunsploitation-throwback horror film sees Sweeney collaborating once again with director Michael Mohan (The Voyeurs), and follows Cecilia (Sweeney), a woman of devout Catholic faith from America, who receives an invitation to join an exclusive convent in the Italian countryside run by Father Sal Tedeschi (Alvaro Morte, Money Heist), a man who is morally conflicted by his faith and his fascination with science.
As the timid Cecilia befriends her fellow nuns and begins to settle into the convent, disturbing discoveries and supernatural occurrences bring to light a dark, evil secret lurking beneath the surface of this Holy place.
The tone is set early with Immaculate, as the opening moments provide a glimpse into the terrifying atmosphere and brutal violence that will unravel over the film’s 89-minute runtime. The rush and excitement of the tension in this opening scene does simmer back down to begin Cecilia’s story, but there is no denying that Immaculate is book-ended with some truly brutal horror.
As Cecilia’s journey begins, Mohan’s direction and Andrew Lobel’s screenplay work quite well with each other to have an overarching sense of unsettling uncertainty in every scene. Mohan captures the large convent castle in a way that is both claustrophobic for the nuns who inhabit it, but also gives a grand sense of scale that evokes a feeling that there is space for more sinister forces to play.
Lobel’s script is an ever-growing encapsulation of tension and insanity. The drip feeding of horror after Immaculate’s opening scene initially comes in the form of general eeriness and uncertainty for Cecilia, followed by intense jump scares and disturbing visuals, before finishing on an insane set piece full of brutal and gory horror violence.
But it’s not always the traditional horror aspects that serve as the scariest elements of the film. The patient opening act lays the foundation of eeriness by exploring the male-skewed power dynamic of this convent, and the rights religion attempts to have over a woman’s body. These themes add a layer of substance to both the characters and the story, making the drama and emotionality of the film worth investing in, which in effect makes the ensuing horror even more brutal.
However, the true shining light of this film is Sydney Sweeney, who gives a career best performance as Cecilia. The timid nature of Cecilia, and the backstory behind her drastic turn to devout faith, allows Sweeney to showcase a dramatic nuance that audiences haven’t had a chance to see yet. As the films tension and insanity increases, so does the range of Sweeney’s performance, which requires some heavy emotional turns and immense physicality, all of which are grounded by her performance.
Alvaro Morte is also a standout as Father Tedeschi, who’s moral ambiguity fuels an engaging performance that will constantly have audiences going back and forth on whether his intentions and practices at the convent are pure or not. There is a charm that comes through Morte’s unassuming and warm smile and demeanor that never comes across as off-putting, which makes Tedeschi even more dangerous as the story progresses. However, it’s not all “good guy-bad guy” with Morte’s performance, as Tedeschi’s only moral dilemma of being a man of science who turned to God, two worlds which do not coincide, creates a complexity that is intriguing to watch unfold.
The one major thing audiences will walk away from this film is the truly shocking final moments. It will be divisive. It will sicken some. However, it’s a fantastic and unexpected finale that will not only give horror fans something to chew on for a long time, but it will be the moment many people, if they weren’t convinced already, that Sydney Sweeney is not afraid to go their as an actor, or as a producer, if it is something that is in service of the story. And the way Immaculate goes, this ending is perfect.
Immaculate is a boiling point of uneasiness and terrifying tension right from its opening scene, constantly building the horror and suspense with an unsettling atmosphere, solid scares, and brutal, bloody violence. But it’s Sydney Sweeney who will have audiences talking about potentially her best performance yet, leading to a final scene that will be regarded as an iconic horror movie ending for years to come.
Immaculate is in cinemas March 21.
