The first and last words spoken in IMMACULATE are the Hail Mary. That prayer takes on very different meanings in each context, and in between them we have a film that is uneven, but oddly fascinating. Taken on one level, it is a screed against the patriarchy, with a woman reduced to her womb. On another level, it’s a fairly rote example of the horror sub-genre involving scary nuns and problems of blind faith run amok.
The womb in question belongs to Sister Cecelia (Sydney Sweeney), a sweet and innocent young American newly arrived in Italy to take her final vows. Alone in the world and haunted by a near-drowning when she was 12 years old (right around puberty, which can’t be a coincidence), she has been offered refuge by Father Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte), a devilishly charming, not to mention handsome, priest who gave up a career in science to ponder the mysteries of religion at My Lady of Sorrows convent. This remote institution, built over a spooky, and forbidden, catacomb, is where old nuns await transition to heaven, as explicated by Sister Isabelle (Giulia Heathfield Di Renzi) the abrasive nun who finishes the tour she is giving Cecilia of her new home by telling her that it would not be a sin to leave right now before taking those final vows.
There are a few things that are mighty peculiar about this establishment. The nuns’ cells are more like a three-star hotel suite. Ablutions take place in a setting more suited to a seraglio, with the nuns, demure in drenched white nightgowns, lounging about like so many odalisques chatting and combing each other’s hair. The resident relic, a fierce bit of pointy iron reputed to be one of the nails used at the Crucifixion, isn’t in a reliquary as such, but more in a display case, the better for the chipper Mother Superior (Dora Romano) to fondle as she shows it off to Cecelia. Then there’s the worldly Sister Gwen (Benedetta Porcaroli), who nonchalantly strolls into their common bathroom while Cecellia is using the facilities, and calmly starts a conversation while grabbing a smoke.
Of course, odd things happen. One of the elderly nuns Cecelia cares for is convinced that the young girl is a saint and tries to cop a new relic for the convent, there’s a red-veiled nun weeping in the chapel, and to top it all off, the virgin Cecelia become pregnant. Violently pregnant. So violent that she loses a molar when the morning sickness strikes. Instead of being scandalized, the Mother Superior, the Cardinal (Giorgio Colangeli), and Father Tedeschi are thrilled. So thrilled that they dust off the ultra-sound equipment that just happens to be on site for the volunteer doctor (Giampiero Judica) to show them what lurks in Cecelia’s uterus, which they have proclaimed as a miracle.
What ensues is Cecelia’s mounting suspicion about what is really going on, and the nuns dressing her up as a vison of the Holy Mother while singing hymns to the very earthly Cecelia.
Visually, this is a masterful piece of work. Chiaruscuro abounds, and even the inevitable blood and gore has the rich hue of expensive brocades. The jump-and-scare tropes are wearying, but there are a few moments of genuine dread, one involving a fingernail, another the torture of a nun who didn’t know her place using a suitably apt technique.
It’s not until the last quarter of the story that disparate themes come together, as Cecelia learns the truth, and rebels with a ferocity that is breathtaking. Sweeney, who until then was playing Pollyanna with a whispery voice and wide blue eyes becomes equal parts Valkyrie and maenad. It is a wonder to behold and jolts the film to life the way that lightning did Frankenstein’s monster. Here is female rage channeled by Sweeney into its purest essence, with results that are unsettling, even grotesque, and yet satisfying as Sister Cecelia starts making her own choices about her body and her life.
We should not have been made to wait so long for the payoff. IMMACULATE would have been a better film with some tightening up, but there’s no gettting around that despite a pedestrian start, the righteous wallop it delivers at the end makes the journey a worthwhile pilgrimage.
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