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Immaculate (2024 film)

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Immaculate
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Mohan
Written byAndrew Lobel
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyElisha Christian
Edited byChristian Masini
Music byWill Bates
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Neon (United States)
  • Black Bear International[1] (International)
Release dates
  • March 12, 2024 (2024-03-12) (SXSW)
  • March 22, 2024 (2024-03-22) (United States)
Running time
89 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
Language
Budget$9 million[4]
Box office$27.2 million[5][6]

Immaculate is a 2024 American psychological horror film directed by Michael Mohan and written by Andrew Lobel. It stars Sydney Sweeney (who also produced), Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano, Giorgio Colangeli, and Simona Tabasco. The plot focuses on a young novice, who is invited to reside at a picturesque Italian convent, but slowly realizes the terrifying secrets it harbors.

Immaculate premiered at South by Southwest on March 12, 2024, and was released theatrically in the United States by Neon on March 22, 2024. The film received positive reviews and has grossed over $27 million worldwide against a budget of $9 million.

Plot

Sister Mary sneaks into a superior's bedroom at night and steals a ring of keys to escape through the locked gates of a Roman Catholic convent. She is captured and her leg broken, before being knocked unconscious by four hooded figures. She later wakes up in a coffin and is buried alive.

Young novice Sister Cecilia turned to Christianity at an early age after she nearly drowned in a frozen lake and was declared dead for seven minutes, convinced that God had saved her for a purpose. She receives an invitation from Father Sal Tedeschi to join a convent in Italy that tends to dying nuns in their last days. Cecilia takes her final vows to adhere to the evangelical counsels and becomes a nun, being decorated with a rosary.

She befriends Sister Gwen and is struck by certain oddities, such as an elder nun having scars on the soles of her feet in the shape of crosses. The convent's chapel houses what they claim is a Holy Nail relic that was taken from the cross on which Jesus was crucified. After having nightmares of hooded figures appearing in her room, Cecilia is shocked to learn that she is pregnant, even though she is a virgin. The convent's inhabitants begin to treat her as the next Virgin Mary, with many proclaiming the child is a "blessing".

Another nun, Sister Isabelle, tries to drown Cecilia out of jealousy, saying that it "should have been her". Cecilia throws up one of her own teeth and her health worsens. Her request to be taken to a proper hospital is denied by Father Tedeschi. Isabelle dies after falling off the convent's roof as Cecilia is walking through the cloister. Gwen publicly chastises the convent superiors for turning a blind eye but is then taken away by Father Tedeschi and Deacon Enzo.

At night, Cecilia notices that behind a painting of the Virgin Mary in her room, another nun had inscribed 2 Corinthians 11:14 on the wall, a hidden warning causing her to realize that something is wrong about this convent. Cecilia breaks open a drawer to read her file and is shocked to find information on the accident in her childhood. Hearing a woman screaming, she ventures further and is horrified to witness a hooded figure cutting out Gwen's tongue. An elder nun appears and silences Cecilia. She begs to escape, but the elder chastises her, saying that she will never leave the convent.

She tries to escape the convent by faking a miscarriage using a dead chicken, but the deception is exposed. She attempts to run before being forcibly brought back by Tedeschi and Enzo. Tedeschi explains that he was a geneticist before becoming a priest and used DNA samples taken from the Holy Nail relic to impregnate nuns in the hopes of ushering in a new messiah. Until his success with Cecilia, Tedeschi's numerous attempts failed, often resulting in malformed fetuses. Tedeschi brands a cross into Cecilia's foot, a symbol also on many of the other nuns.

Cecilia makes another attempt to escape. She beats Mother Superior to death using a crucifix, and shortly afterward, her water breaks. She manages to strangle the cardinal with her rosary before dousing Tedeschi's lab in ethanol. Tedeschi arrives and tries to stop her through physical force, but Cecilia narrowly escapes by igniting the ethanol with a lighter.

Tedeschi manages to break out of the laboratory after extinguishing the flames and continues his pursuit against Cecilia, forcing her to flee into the catacombs under the convent. Cecilia finds Gwen's mutilated corpse along with a hole in the catacombs walls. Tedeschi finds her just as she is about to escape and a struggle ensues. Tedeschi tries to cut Cecilia's stomach open, but she stabs him in the throat with the Holy Nail relic, which she had previously stolen from the chapel. After exiting the catacombs, Cecilia agonizingly gives birth and bites through the umbilical cord herself. She is clearly horrified by the sight of the "baby", which is heard making animalistic noises. Cecilia stumbles away to grab and lift a nearby rock, which she uses to crush it to death.[A]

Cast

Production

Development on Immaculate was underway as early as 2014, when Sydney Sweeney first auditioned for a role in the film from a screenplay written by Andrew Lobel.[9] However, the project fell into development hell instead of entering production.[10] Following her breakout role in the television series Euphoria, Sweeney purchased the rights to the screenplay and approached frequent collaborator Michael Mohan to direct.[9] Mohan has stated that many of the film's scenes were inspired by his Catholic upbringing.[11]

In October 2022, it was announced that Sweeney had joined the cast of the film, with Mohan directing, and with Sweeney serving as a producer under her Fifty-Fifty Films banner.[1] Mohan stated that the script originally featured a cast of high school girls, not nuns, and was changed to better suit Sweeney and audience expectations.[12]

In February 2023, Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano, Giorgio Colangeli and Simona Tabasco joined the cast of the film.[13][14]

Principal photography took place in and around Rome,[13] and concluded by February 2023.[15] Much of the film was shot at Villa Parisi[16] and the Doria Pamphilj Gallery.[17] Villa Parisi had previously been used as a location for several horror films, including Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970), A Bay of Blood (1971), Blood for Dracula (1974) and Burial Ground (1981).[18][19] The catacombs sequences were shot in the real catacombs of Rome.[19]

Release

In December 2023, Neon acquired US distribution rights to the film.[20] It had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 12, 2024.[3][21] It was released on March 22, 2024.[22] The film also screened at the Fargo Film Festival on March 22, 2024.[23]

Reception

Box office

As of April 29, 2024, Immaculate has grossed $15.6 million in the United States and Canada and $11.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $27 million.[6][5]

In the United States and Canada, Immaculate was released alongside Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Late Night with the Devil, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,354 theaters in its opening weekend.[24] The film made $2 million on its first day, and went on to debut to $5.3 million, finishing fourth and marking the best opening weekend in Neon's history.[25][4] It dropped 36% in its second weekend to $3.3 million, finishing in fifth.[26]

Critical response

Sydney Sweeney's performance was highly praised by critics.[27][28]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 72% of 183 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Immaculate in conception if not always in execution, this religiously themed horror outing is saved by a divine performance from Sydney Sweeney."[29] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 57 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[30] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave the film a 52% overall positive score, with 30% saying they would definitely recommend it.[25]

Tim Robey of The Telegraph awarded the film three stars out of five, saying that "Sydney Sweeney's pregnant-nun horror takes time to deliver… Only at the very end does Immaculate deliver, so to speak, on some of (its) hinted-at promise."[31] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film a Critic's Pick, writing that the film "is a scare-fest with a plucky heroine, an irreverent hot-button twist and just enough narrative ambiguity to give viewers something to argue about."[32]

Comparisons to The First Omen

Due to sharing similar premises (and a common Italian setting) and released at about the same time, Immaculate and The First Omen have been dubbed as "twin" films.[33] Both films explore the issue of female bodily autonomy, depicting the "systemic control of women's bodies reduced to vessels".[34] Bilge Ebiri of Vulture wondered about "why should anyone be surprised that suddenly, in the wake of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, as state after state attempts to enact religious laws depriving women of bodily agency, America is getting horror movies about people forced into monstrous births by religious institutions worried about their growing irrelevance".[35]

Themes

The film addresses themes of genetic modification and debates surrounding childbirth, abortion, and infanticide. Speaking with Fangoria, director Mohan recited a story wherein his family stopped attending church after hearing a pro-life sermon; however he held that the movie was not intended to have a social message.[12] The article reads

And though the film – which is, at the end of the day, about a forced birth by a religious institution laying claim to a woman's body – is already getting its share of blowback from certain conservative corners of the internet, Mohan is unbothered. "I don't think of it as a problem. I think it's a necessary conversation, and if a film can inspire that conversation, then we've done our job. But I also want to be really clear: I want that conversation to be started by the audience. I don't want them to look at us and go 'Look at those social justice warriors!'" Mohan seems more invested in having Immaculate carry out horror's other important mission: scarring people for life.[12]

Several critics likened Immaculate to a modern revival of the nunsploitation sub-genre.[36][37][38] Others noted the aesthetic and thematic influences of 1970s European horror cinema, including directors Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, and Roman Polanski.[39][40][41][42][43]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Given that the neonate does not sound like a baby, but rather gurgles and growls, it has been interpreted as being the Antichrist.[7][8]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Grobar, Matt (October 28, 2022). "Sydney Sweeney Set For Black Bear Pictures' Psychological Horror 'Immaculate' From Director Michael Mohan". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 17, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  2. ^ "Immaculate (18)". BBFC. March 5, 2024. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "SXSW 2024 Schedule: Immaculate". South by Southwest. Archived from the original on March 25, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "What Sequel Problem? 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Is the Third to Open Over $45 Million in March". IndieWire. March 24, 2024. Archived from the original on March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Immaculate — Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on March 30, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Immaculate". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on March 27, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  7. ^ Garrett, Mars (February 1, 2024). "'Immaculate' - Demonic Forces Attack a Pregnant Nun in Bloody First Trailer". Bell of Lost Souls. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  8. ^ Wallace, Lindsay Lee (March 22, 2024). "'Immaculate' Ending Explained". Time. Retrieved April 7, 2024. But from the sinister gurgling, growling, wheezing sounds the creature makes upon its emergence, it's clear all is not well.
  9. ^ a b Davids, Brian (March 18, 2024). "'Immaculate' Director Michael Mohan Had a Front Row Seat to the Rise of Sydney Sweeney". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  10. ^ Anderton, Joe (March 20, 2024). "Sydney Sweeney's horror movie Immaculate lands fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on March 27, 2024. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  11. ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (March 19, 2024). "'Immaculate' Director Michael Mohan Channeled His Catholic Youth Group Trauma for the Film's Unholy Imagery". IndieWire. Archived from the original on March 22, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c Jr, Phil Nobile (March 25, 2024). "Sydney Sweeney's IMMACULATE Conception". www.fangoria.com. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  13. ^ a b MacCary, Julia (February 13, 2023). "Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli and More Join Sydney Sweeney in Black Bear Pictures' 'Immaculate' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  14. ^ Cordero, Rosy (February 17, 2023). "Simona Tabasco Joins Sydney Sweeney In Psychological Horror Film 'Immaculate'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  15. ^ Sweeney, Sydney [@sydney_sweeney] (February 17, 2023). "I just wrapped the first film I've ever produced, Immaculate, with the most amazing cast and crew. I can't even begin to describe what an amazing experience it's been these past few months in Rome. I've learned so much and can't wait to share all the madness we created with you ♥️". Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023 – via Instagram.
  16. ^ Gingold, Michael (March 25, 2024). "Exclusive Interview: "IMMACULATE" director Michael Mohan on Italian horror influences, Sydney Sweeney's body horror and more". Rue Morgue. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  17. ^ "Immaculate Filming Locations". March 26, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  18. ^ Pope (March 14, 2024). "Immaculate – SXSW Review". Whitlock&Pope. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  19. ^ a b Sciences, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and. "'Immaculate' Director Michael Mohan Says Sydney Sweeney 'Doesn't Ever Want to Hold Back' (Exclusive)". A.frame. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  20. ^ Grobar, Matt (December 19, 2023). "Sydney Sweeney Horror 'Immaculate' Acquired By Neon". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  21. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 7, 2024). "SXSW 2024 Second Wave Includes Pics With Sydney Sweeney, Nicolas Cage, Camila Mendes & 'Monkey Man'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  22. ^ Squires, John (January 24, 2024). "'Immaculate' – NEON Releasing Sydney Sweeney Horror Movie in March [Poster]". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  23. ^ "Fargo Film Festival to welcome Will Greenfield | Fargo Film Festival". February 26, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  24. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (March 19, 2024). "Box Office Preview: 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Aims for $45 Million Opening Weekend". Variety. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  25. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 24, 2024). "' Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Propels Franchise Past $1B As Sequel Opens To $45M+ – Sunday AM Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 28, 2024. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  26. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 31, 2024). "They Have Risen: 'Godzilla x Kong' Conquers Easter Box Office With $80M Opening; Legendary Monsterverse Franchise Crosses $2 Billion – Sunday AM Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 30, 2024. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  27. ^ "Immaculate: Sydney Sweeney's pregnant-nun horror takes time to deliver". The Telegraph. March 21, 2024. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  28. ^ Dargis, Manohla (March 21, 2024). "'Immaculate' Review: Sydney Sweeney Is Wide-Eyed but Sly". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 28, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  29. ^ "Immaculate". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 2, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  30. ^ "Immaculate". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  31. ^ "Immaculate: Sydney Sweeney's pregnant-nun horror takes time to deliver". The Telegraph. March 21, 2024. Archived from the original on March 29, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  32. ^ Dargis, Manohla (March 21, 2024). "'Immaculate' Review: Sydney Sweeney Is Wide-Eyed but Sly". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 28, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  33. ^ Meenan, Devin (April 7, 2024). "Everything Immaculate And The First Omen Have In Common (Besides Evil Pregnancies)". /Film.
  34. ^ Sarrubba, Stefania (April 7, 2024). "Why The First Omen's full-frontal childbirth scene is so important". Digital Spy.
  35. ^ Ebiri, Bilge (April 5, 2024). "Behold, an Actually Good Omen Movie". Vulture.
  36. ^ "Review | In Sydney Sweeney's 'Immaculate,' nunsploitation is back". Washington Post. March 21, 2024. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  37. ^ Fletcher, Harriet (March 25, 2024). "Immaculate: how a nunsploitation film tunes into women's anger over misogyny and oppression". The Conversation. Archived from the original on April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  38. ^ Picado, Claudia (April 2, 2024). "'Immaculate' Gives a Modern Update to This Horror Classic". Collider. Archived from the original on April 3, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  39. ^ Motamayor, Rafael (March 13, 2024). "'Immaculate' Review: This Nun Horror Movie Is God Awful". IndieWire. Archived from the original on March 24, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  40. ^ "'Immaculate' Is Bad-Gal Blasphemy of the Highest Order". Time. March 22, 2024. Archived from the original on April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  41. ^ Lindsey, Craig D. "Immaculate Is a Batshit Psycho-Thriller Just Like They Used to Make". Riverfront Times. Archived from the original on April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  42. ^ Donato, Matt (March 13, 2024). "'Immaculate' Review: Sydney Sweeney's Horror Isn't Afraid to Sin | SXSW 2024". Collider. Archived from the original on April 3, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  43. ^ "Immaculate". FilmInk. March 18, 2024. Archived from the original on April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
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