Immaculate (2024)

Immaculate (2024). 1h 29m | R

“I went along to Immaculate hoping or expecting perhaps Blumhouse levels of variable quality. What I got was one of those wonderful surprise horror film experiences where you can barely believe the extremity of what youu0026#39;re experiencing. That such an experience can still be had in your local suburban cinema in 2024 is, paradoxically, a great comfort.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eImmaculate is a surprisingly brutal horror film, with a vein of black humour, about an immaculate conception in a retirement-focused nunnery(!). The direction is measured, suspense-building, sometimes poetic (the enormous tear expelled from the heroineu0026#39;s eye as she watches torture through a keyhole). The production design and texture, and the uncomfortable music, are wonderful. Thereu0026#39;s a folk horror kind of paranoia at work, and also little ghosts of Suspiria about the place, especially in the section where Sweeneyu0026#39;s cynical friend gets on the wrong side of the people running the nunnery.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBefore the finale, the brutality comes in small dose, meaning the film retains the power to shock. Sweeney must travel in her performance from a not atypical wide-eyed novitiate to a woman completely brutalised and out of her mind. She succeeds, and I can anticipate the last long shot of Immaculate finding its way into u0026#39;classic horror scenesu0026#39; canon.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film almost feels a little short, but I think – why muck around? I hope Immaculate does really well today, as it is certainly not mucking around. Either way, I can tell that in horror circles, this film will stand in the long term.”