Immaculate ★★★

AMERICAN psychological horror film Immaculate is quite a surprise.

This original screenplay by Andrew Lobel builds nicely to a very interesting premise, anchored by a surprisingly good performance from Sydney Sweeney.

The third act unfortunately falls into familiar chase scares before ending on a terrific high note.

The prologue sets a good sense of tension, setting and atmosphere.

A woman sneaks into a room at night and steals a set of keys from an older woman’s bedside drawer.

She awakens others, is chased by three strange-looking nuns and caught at the gates of a convent while trying to escape.

We are then introduced to Sister Cecilia (Sweeney) a young American novice nun who has been convinced by a priest to take her final vows at a convent in Italy that looks after dying nuns in their final days.

We learn that Cecilia turned to religion after she nearly drowned in a frozen lake and was declared dead for seven minutes, believing that God had saved her for a purpose.

It’s not long before strange occurrences lead Cecilia to re-consider her decision to live at the convent.

But there is a far greater reason behind why she is there and her future that will have life and death consequences.

Don’t let anyone tell you any more as the unravelling of this mystery is the best part of the film, suffice to stay people of devout faith may have real problems with this story.

Watched at the cinema