If I could describe what I liked most about Immaculate, its the film's tone and pacing. This is a movie that looks like a slow burn horror film of the 2010s/20s (think, the Blackcoat's Daughter or Saint Maud), visually stunning and very well shot, with a truly gorgeous set. Yet, it sort of has the pacing of a studio horror film, like you'd expect from Blumhouse. It was actually a nice surprise, as I was totally expecting the former.
I also really liked this movie's ambition as an earnest ode to Italian Giallo films and surprising goriness. This is a pretty messed up movie and I like that it actually *goes there*, you know? This movie more than earns its R rating and isn't some teeny bopper fare, despite the obvious marketing inclusion of Sydney Sweeney.
Sweeney, for her part, does a fine job here. I feel like she sometimes has an issue with enunciation. But that was mostly gone in this movie. Particularly in the first bit, she feels perfectly cast as this doe eyed, gorgeous, innocent girl about to be wrapped up in something sinister. Chronically online (mostly) women complain about her overuse of sex appeal, and yes, while I can confirm, the girls are out in this one (hallelujah), you have to give her credit for how...let's just say, de-sexualized she gets in this film. Just face it, Sweeney is a Hollywood archetype we don't see a lot of anymore, and I'm here for it.
The movie does fall flat in some areas though. One is weirdly, the sound design. Despite moments of truly fantastic sound design, towards the end the sound and music almost felt muffled and needed a bit more oopmh. Weird thing to criticize, but it was noticeable.
I also think - and this will be what turns most people off - the thin plot needs a bit of work. There's a pretty massive revelation in this film that is conceptually interesting, but so out there that it needs more than just a few lines of dialog to explain it. I don't think films need to OVEREXPLAIN things, but I felt like we needed a bit more time to sit with it before moving on.
There were also moments in this film that played with some of the surrealism associated with Giallo, but not enough in my opinion. A striking image (red, you'll know what I mean) could've been more prominent and become something kind of iconic.
Overall though, I liked Immaculate quite a bit. It has some interesting thematic elements, Sweeney gives a solid performance, it's messed up, it looks good, and at a sweet 89 minutes, it isn't a time sink. A pretty solid way to really start the 2024 horror calendar.
I also really liked this movie's ambition as an earnest ode to Italian Giallo films and surprising goriness. This is a pretty messed up movie and I like that it actually *goes there*, you know? This movie more than earns its R rating and isn't some teeny bopper fare, despite the obvious marketing inclusion of Sydney Sweeney.
Sweeney, for her part, does a fine job here. I feel like she sometimes has an issue with enunciation. But that was mostly gone in this movie. Particularly in the first bit, she feels perfectly cast as this doe eyed, gorgeous, innocent girl about to be wrapped up in something sinister. Chronically online (mostly) women complain about her overuse of sex appeal, and yes, while I can confirm, the girls are out in this one (hallelujah), you have to give her credit for how...let's just say, de-sexualized she gets in this film. Just face it, Sweeney is a Hollywood archetype we don't see a lot of anymore, and I'm here for it.
The movie does fall flat in some areas though. One is weirdly, the sound design. Despite moments of truly fantastic sound design, towards the end the sound and music almost felt muffled and needed a bit more oopmh. Weird thing to criticize, but it was noticeable.
I also think - and this will be what turns most people off - the thin plot needs a bit of work. There's a pretty massive revelation in this film that is conceptually interesting, but so out there that it needs more than just a few lines of dialog to explain it. I don't think films need to OVEREXPLAIN things, but I felt like we needed a bit more time to sit with it before moving on.
There were also moments in this film that played with some of the surrealism associated with Giallo, but not enough in my opinion. A striking image (red, you'll know what I mean) could've been more prominent and become something kind of iconic.
Overall though, I liked Immaculate quite a bit. It has some interesting thematic elements, Sweeney gives a solid performance, it's messed up, it looks good, and at a sweet 89 minutes, it isn't a time sink. A pretty solid way to really start the 2024 horror calendar.