Sydney Sweeney gets fully in the habit of making horror with ‘Immaculate,’ an austere thriller about the horrors of bodily autonomies. Plus, this week’s horror recs!
You’re getting this Holy Week edition of the newsletter. Jesus Christ hath died and three days later hath again risen. Dost thou want a fresh dispatch…from Hell?!
It’s a perfect coincidence that this week, we’re looking into Michael Mohan’s Immaculate, a Catholic horror that slides Sydney Sweeney into the habit as a nun seemingly going through immaculate conception. Plus, this week’s horror recs!
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YOU’D BE FORGIVEN if you mindlessly dismissed Michael Mohan’s Immaculate as yet another run-of-the-mill Catholic horror film. It’s not. Or at least, it’s not just a film about clericalist horrors in the Catholic church (even if it isn’t afraid to mangle the ugly faces of religious fanaticism).
The film is more interested in the horrors of losing one’s corporeal agency through the lens of blind reverence. Do questions about one’s claim to one’s body vanish when it’s told to be divine intervention? That’s the can of worms Immaculate is opening. And honestly? Good on Sydney Sweeney for championing this project for years.
Speaking of Sweeney, she’s stellar in this. She plays a devout nun named Sister Cecilia who mysteriously conceived a child (without pillowing with a man) after moving to a convent in Italy. She sells the whole relinquished nun storyline fully, with an intense last scene that builds on Dolly De Leon’s iconic Triangle of Sadness moment.
Immaculate has few sharp turns and even fewer novel ideas in the way of story (there’s a weird Jurassic World-esque plot point, too—totally odd, I know), but it makes up for its being so resolute about its ideas—rip-your-own-umbilical-cord-type of resolute.
Mohan already mentioned that Immaculate wasn’t written as commentary, but it’s hard to hold him to that when a character pulls out lines like “Of course, I do [believe in God]. Life is so cruel only a man could be responsible.” Recommend.
ABOUT THE FILM
✝️ Immaculate dir. Michael Mohan | Horror, Thriller | 🇺🇸
Cecilia, an American nun of devout faith, embarks on a new journey in a remote convent in the picturesque Italian countryside. Cecilia’s warm welcome quickly devolves into a nightmare as it becomes clear her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors.
Every week in Field Notes (From Hell!), I recommend three horror films: one recent title, one classic horror, and one guilty pleasure.
Here are this week’s recommendations.
Recent horror — You’ll Never Find Me (2023, dir. Josiah Allen, Indianna Bell)
Loved it. Tension-filled and anxiety-inducing, this Aussie psychological thriller is a chess match between two dubious characters—a lonely old man and a tourist who lies about her accommodation. Deffo recommendo.
Classic horror — The Omen (1976, dir. Richard Donner)
Watched in preparation for The First Omen, which comes out next week. The story follows a diplomat played by Gregory Peck who unwittingly adopts the antichrist and gives him a birthday party. Big on atmosphere, something that gets clear in the first few minutes. It’s lush, austere, and horrific. Not sure if it ages a-O.K. in today’s standards, but it’s rightfully touted as a horror classic.
Guilty pleasure — The Midnight Meat Train (2008, dir. Ryûhei Kitamura)
True to it being written by Clive Barker, this film is amply horny and very, very, very bloody. Bradley Cooper stars as a photographer who becomes obsessed with a string of subway disappearances—basically, the torture porn-ification of De Palma’s Blow Out.
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That’s it for this week’s digest! Thank you so much for reading through.
About Field Notes (From Hell!):
Field Notes (From Hell!) is Deep Cuts’ weekly email digest. Dispatches go out every weekend, with handpicked capsule reviews and horror recommendations.
Again, this week’s email is brought to you by Amazon Prime Video — watch thousands of horror films, including Amazon Original titles like Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 Suspiria remake.
Completely agree! I loved Immaculate, I think it had a great sense of humour too - especially the final shot and then the cut to Ave Maria over the credits! *chefs kiss*
Completely agree! I loved Immaculate, I think it had a great sense of humour too - especially the final shot and then the cut to Ave Maria over the credits! *chefs kiss*