Film Journal 2024: Immaculate
Directed by Michael Mohan
That final 5 minutes though. This is next level stuff from Sydney Sweeney.
For all the ways this checks conventional boxes, how it tells its story and some of the turns it takes makes this one a bit unconventional in its approach. Some of it works better than others. There is a significant shift that changes the direction of the story at just over the halfway point that I felt was rushed and a bit forced. The time it gives to Sydney Sweeney’s character, a nun who transfers to a convent in Italy, really worked for me, especially in the first half. I think it earns the gradual transformation we see her make, and it accentuates the different relationships in the convent in ways allow this to become something of a character study.
The horror worked for me too, built as it is on growing sense of paranoia. We see this take root in the opening 10 minutes, and when the truth does come to the surface, it’s ready to go all in. It leaves some space to weave in some existential quandaries about suffering and death, faith and miracles. There was room to do more with these aspects of the story, but they do add some substantive quality to the film.
I was glad to be able to see this one with a packed house. Defintiely the ideal way to see it. Especially for that ending. Did I mention the ending? It’s next level stuff.
The Stories of my Life 