Immaculate (2024)

We follow the story of Cecilia who has had a childhood trauma in which she ‘died’ for 7 minutes. Surviving the incident, she thought it was some god or other who had done it for her and so vowed to be a nun. Off she goes when she’s old enough to Italy to take her vows - she seems to have chosen catholicism and christianity for whatever reason - and start working/living in some ancient convent where the fit and healthy care for the old and knackered nuns.

We spend some time getting to know Cecilia, played by the top-heavy Sydney Sweeney (who spends most of the film in a flimsy gown showing off her major assets), as she struggles with the language and culture of the country and regime. Sweeney is actually rather good in her role and certainly seems to have more about her than simply the camera's focus on her two major points!

Anyway, turns out that one day she is pregnant, even though she’s never been infiltrated by any human male, so the religious people around her claim that it’s a miracle and has come from their god and it must be some sort of second coming of the previous alleged immaculate event!

SPOILERS from hereon in so beware
Turns out that one of the priests is trying to get DNA from one of the nails that allegedly came from Israel from the previous god-child on a cross and invoking said second coming by experimenting, calling on his previous career as a biologist, on various nuns over the years, getting them pregnant and hoping for the best! Later on we see a lab, below quarters, where the evidence is stored of all the failed attempts! So it’s turned at this point into kinda Mad Scientist territory!

There’s lots of gore, torture and abuse, burning crucifixes into various nun’s skin, chopping heads off chickens, cutting out of tongues, attempted drownings, beating people to death with crucifixes, strangling others with rosary beads, mutilated corpses, burying people alive in coffins, cutting open of stomachs to get to what’s inside and burning offending people and lab contents!

In the end, the audience doesn’t get to see what comes out of her as in the final scene the camera focuses on her face as she looks down at the grunting creature, she bites through her own umbilical cord, grabs a boulder and smashes it down, destroying whatever it was!

So yes, as everyone else seems to be saying, a reverse version of Rosemary’s Baby to some degree. It’s actually quite entertaining, if pretty over the top and cliched with lots of creaking doors and daft jumpscares (where the music plays a better part than the visuals). All good fun and suspenseful at times with Sweeney carrying the show almost single-handed and big juggedly! Available on various streaming services.