I would not have anticipated that this would be the year of the demon baby. I have since watched at least three horror movies starring reputable actors that focus on the birth of some diabolical baby, and I’ve already run out of Rosemary’s Baby jokes. And, I’m not going to bother making jokes about the American Eagle jeans commercial that has ushered Sydney Sweeney into the spotlight recently.

Pros

Only about 90 minutes
Some decent moments of tension
Solid final minutes
Lots of wet shirts…

Cons

Acting/voiceover from Sydney Sweeney is pretty flat throughout most of the film
Predictable, dull, and requires suspension of disbelief
Some effects look pretty bad

Plot & Thoughts

A young nun in training, Sister Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney), is preparing to take her vows and has traveled to Italy to finalize her decision and become a full member of the church. She’s welcomed by most of the residents, including a priest, Father Sal Tedeschi (Alvaro Morte), who had a career in biology and science before finding his faith. Some of the nuns are more standoffish towards Cecilia, though, and it doesn’t take long for her to start seeing things that seem a little off. Within a short time, Cecilia miraculously becomes pregnant, and many begin to believe that it’s the second coming of Christ. As her pregnancy progresses, however, more strange things start happening, and Cecilia begins to wonder if she really has the messiah in her womb or something unholy.

There is not much of note about Immaculate in comparison to other similar horror movies. “Why write a review, then?” you might be asking. Well, one reason is that I almost feel obligated to report that I’ve seen yet another movie in which the main female lead gets impregnated with the spawn of something inhuman within the span of just a few months. I also believe that this is the weakest entry for a number of reasons, which has helped me appreciate the other movies like Apartment 7A and The First Omen more. Immaculate is by no means a complete disaster; it just doesn’t do enough to stand out from the crowd I didn’t realize existed, nor does it have enough positive going for it to make up for what is ultimately a dull experience.

One particular place where the movie suffered was actually from its lead. Sydney Sweeney has been enjoying a lot of positive attention lately—and surprisingly negative attention for a particular ad—having springboarded off the disastrous Madam Web into the stratosphere of stardom with a relatable demeanor and a pretty frame. Some of that frame was on display in Immaculate with her dressed in some braless, wet gowns, which I’m sure will be enough for many people to justify watching this movie. However, her physical assets do not make up for what is an extremely flat performance, aside from the final few minutes of the movie. I’m not sure if the audio that was recorded for the various scenes had issues, and she needed to rerecord her lines in a booth with a crappy audio director, but most of her delivery in the film sounded flat.

I don’t necessarily like to judge an actor’s ability on just one performance, and I haven’t seen her in anything else. So I’m willing to give Sweeney the benefit of the doubt, but Immaculate does not make a great impression. That’s with the exception of the final scene, however. The one part of the movie where Sweeney turned up the energy is in the final shot, which goes on for several minutes. It’s loud. She’s screaming till her face turns blue. It’s close up and in her face. And it ends brutally without us seeing what happens. It’s a scene I liked enough to forgive some of the other shortcomings of Immaculate.

TL;DR

Immaculate is not a long horror movie, but it is predictable and mostly uninteresting. Aside from the intense final minutes, it’s a forgettable affair with a mostly flat performance from its lead actress. Of all the movies I’ve watched lately with unholy pregnancies—which is a phrase I would not have expected to write—this sits towards the bottom of the list.

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