If you had a nickel for every time a film about American nuns in evil Italian convents was released in 2024, you would have two nickels. That’s not a lot, but it’s funny it happened twice.

Coincidence aside, it is rather interesting that Michael Mohan’s “Immaculate” released about the same time as “The First Omen”.

Is there really a filmgoing demographic out there demanding that more Catholic horror films be made? Where is the Protestant side of horror?

In any case, sacrilege or not, “Immaculate” tells the story of Sister Cecilia, played by Sydney Sweeney, a young American nun sent to live in an isolated Italian convent.

At first, everything seems well, until it is not. Much to her own surprise, the virgin Cecilia ends up pregnant.

A miracle, right? Well, not so. As it turns out, there is something afoot in the convent and it becomes clear that Cecilia is not in good hands.

As one can tell from the summary, this film has no shortage of similarities to “The First Omen”, which this writer also reviewed.

In the spirit of fairness, though, “Immaculate” will be judged based on its own merits rather than being compared.

The film certainly earns its 18 rating and is definitely not for the faint-hearted or the squeamish, so be warned.

In some media interviews, Sweeney said she loves the jump scare and those are aplenty in the first two thirds of the film.

It may come off as cliché at first, but come the climax, the film impressively veers off into a gorier direction. Let’s just say bone, flesh and skin go flying in the finale. It is a rather welcomed change of pace after all that build-up.

That said, the film also has the bad habit of showing the audience incidents that are never properly explained.

It’s one thing to leave these incidents deliberately ambiguous; it is quite another to leave interesting elements of the plot frustratingly unexplored.

Additionally, it would have been nice to see some character development in the film, which sorely lacks it otherwise.

Not much time is given to exploring Cecilia or other characters, with their pasts often left ambiguous or explained in a single line.

It is quite a shame, since Cecilia, in particular, is a rather sympathetic character who has little say in her strange situation.

Sweeney’s performance remains the highlight of the film, for sure. That lady can really scream her heart out, no doubt about it.

The finale which centres itself around her is the best performance she delivers, as she… delivers her miracle baby while gripped in absolute terror.

The closeup shots of her terrified visage, accompanied by her agonised screams and other ghastly sounds, are nothing short of intense.

Funnily enough, while she excels at conveying intense emotion, Sweeney does struggle a bit when she’s in an ordinary situation.

The way she delivers her lines in the scenes before the terror begins unfolding is rather bland, and somewhat unconvincing.

Her strength is clearly in using her facial expressions to act, but when it comes to emoting via voice, she struggles.

That said, it is cathartic to watch her go on a rampage against those who had used her. Who knew crucifixes and rosary beads could be that deadly?

Without giving away much, just imagine “Jurassic Park”, but with nuns rather than dinosaurs and without a bare-chested Jeff Goldblum.

It certainly diverges from “The First Omen” in that regard, with the supernatural shenanigans downplayed in favour of just human beings being awful.

So, is it worth a watch? And is it as good as “The First Omen”? It certainly is, but for the second question, it depends on what you are looking for in a horror film.

While “The First Omen” preferred horror through subtleness, “Immaculate” is more upfront about it, for better or for worse.

‘Immaculate’ is currently playing in theatres nationwide.