Nun with a Bun (in the oven)

Anybody who has seen the trailer for Immaculate may think they know exactly what they are in for. They would only be half right because while it is the film the trailer shows its also a little bit more and a whole lot louder.

Sydney Sweeney stars as Sister Cecilia, a nun who relocates to an old Italian convent that tends to dying nuns. Turns out the place is full of oddballs and when she becomes pregnant via miraculous conception she discovers that while she is treated with awe as the new Virgin Mary she is also a prisoner, not even allowed to leave to visit hospital.

Sweeney also produces the movie having auditioned (and been passed over) for a role in a version of the story ten years ago. That iteration ended up falling by the wayside and at first glance it seems strange the Anyone but You star would have held on to the idea for so long. After all, its not as if Nuns and spooky pregnancies are exactly box breaking territory for a horror film. Immaculate has some tricks up its sleeve though, in the form of a refreshingly gritty edge, one of the most memorable (and well earned) endings of recent years and a lead role that allows the actress to show plenty of acting muscle.

For most of the runtime the plot is fairly pedestrian and the convent isn't exactly packed with subtle characters (the wrong'uns may as well have villain tattooed on their forehead) but it covers the horror bases. There's jump scares, the psychological horror of Cecilia being trapped both externally in the convent and by the unescapable thing growing inside her and some grizzly physical horror. Immaculate hits all these elements hard, starting with a gruesome opening that lets the audience know what they're in for and building to a barnstorming and cathartic ending. The setting helps too, with the fantastic looking Italian convent giving the film a bug budget aesthetic and making it feel like the events are actually taking place against a Catholic backdrop (something many films that try fail). Add in a full blooded performance from a fully committed lead actress and what could have been another nun of the mill nun horror is something far more memorable.

Immaculate isn't perfectly paced and is predictable in some areas but technical quality and daring attitude make the film more than the sum of its parts and a must see for horror fans.

8 butchered poultry under the bed out of 10

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