When American nun Sister Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) arrives at her new covenant.
She falls pregnant - an immaculate conception.
But Cecilia is suspicious that it is not the miracle the other nuns seem to treat it as…
The First Omen had the bad luck of coming out after Immaculate. And I had the good luck to see them both at the same time.
While the films seemed pretty similar sight unseen, I was excited.
If The First Omen is the big studio release, is Immaculate the Roger Corman-style ripoff which stole its thunder?
I watched Immaculate about an hour after The First Omen, which probably coloured my viewing a bit.
One worry I had was that the films would blur together, and they do share a large number of similarities.
Watching them back-to-back felt less like comparing a Hollywood original with its ripoff, and more like two adaptations of the same text.
It is interesting how both films reframe the catalyst of horror as the Catholic Church itself.
The plots are also similar, with the villains here using genetics to recreate the Messiah.
The evil comes from an adherence to dogma, which is even more explicitly patriarchal (repeated references to the deity as “he”), especially in terms of its treatment of the central character.
The male priests and doctor spend the runtime gaslighting Cecelia about her own body and autonomy.
Ironically, Immaculate is not nearly as effective or memorable as The First Omen. There is an intensity and sense of claustrophobia to that movie which this film - despite being similarly anchored to one setting - is not able to match.
This might be a result of watching both films so close together but I am not so sure.
Sweeney is effective in the lead and Álvaro Morte oozes superficial charm as the film’s Big Bad. the film’s scene stealer is Italian actress Benedetta Porcaroli as her new friend Sister Gwen is the film’s scene stealer.
The one cast member I was disappointed was not in the film more was Simona Tabasco. So good in The White Lotus, she gets little to do here.
A totally solid thriller, Immaculate gains bonus points for going absolutely wild in its climax. A gore-y farce, it feels like a different (although enjoyable) movie.
The other highlight of the movie was the score, which feels more identifiably Italian in instrumentation and style.
Overall, a solid thriller.
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