Following young American nun Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney) as she starts her new life in a remote Italian convent, only to discover that her new hosts have far more sinister plans for her, "Immaculate" distinguishes itself from non-"Exorcist" religious horror movies by managing to combine exposition and entertainment in equal measure, resulting in a movie that leaves you satisfied despite its overall lack of depth. It helps that the lead, Sydney Sweeney, revels in her role as an initially helpless young nun who must learn to fight and think when she finds herself ensnared in an unbelievable plot far from home. She screams her head off, kicks ass, and gets soaked in blood -- and it's just great to watch. What's maybe not so great is the general lack of character development and fairly basic plot trajectory, but Sweeney and director Michael Mohan just about overcome those issues. This is not a great movie by any means, but in a world where the quality of movies like "The Conjuring" are blown all out of proportion, its simple pleasures make it a comparatively worthwhile watch.
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