Immaculate (2024)
The horror genre has always had a strong bond with womanhood and the journey females take through their lives. We have seen it with “Carrie,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” and even animations like “Coraline.” A lot of these films have underlying messages and themes which provoke the ideas of motherhood and womanhood; most importantly, they shine a light on how society has built a stigma around what a perfect woman should be and the reality. But why the horror genre?
In October, I attended a screening of Jacqueline Castel’s new upcoming indie horror “My Animal,” which I really recommend you to watch. By the way, before the film, someone had mentioned why horror is such a correspondent with the journey of womanhood and because pain, gore, and fear are born with us. We see blood every month; our bodies practically transform and produce almost alien-like figures. Most importantly, we are taught from a young age that we aren’t safe and that we always have to be aware of our surroundings. Horror exaggerates and acts as a metaphor a lot of the time to reflect the role and characteristics of women in that period of time.
“Immaculate” is the embodiment of this idea, and now, better than ever, it reflects the political and cultural context of life as a woman in the 2020s+. Sydney Sweeney originally auditioned for “Immaculate” in 2014, a decade ago, when she was only 16 and hadn’t fully begun her career. My question is, why did they wait so long to make it? Honestly, I don’t care because, after the past year and, most importantly, after the change in laws in America, they couldn’t have chosen a better time to release this film.
If you don’t know the plot, here is a thin outline: Sydney Sweeney’s character has just been sent away from her convent in America to one in Italy. She suddenly falls pregnant, yet she hasn’t broken her vow, so now she is being seen as a reincarnation of The Virgin Mary pretty much, and she is forced to give birth. However, it is not all as it seems, and the baby may not be the miracle of Christ everyone was hoping for, and Sydney Sweeney’s character has no escape.
“Immaculate” is trying to emphasize how society puts this rose-tinted romanticization on motherhood and how there is such pressure to meet the standards of being this Mary-like figure. We’ve seen it in “We Need to Talk About Kevin” and “Hereditary” that this is simply not factual, and most of the time, women feel forced to complete this role and “conquer” femininity at its fullest. In theoretical terms or with Barbara Creed’s “The Monstrous Feminine,” she would class this idea as “Monstrous Womb,” which is the stereotypical horror theme that a woman is giving birth to something evil or demonic. In reality, it is a reflection on not being connected with wanting to be a mother or how a child could impact your life.
Most importantly, “Immaculate” shows the consequences of forced motherhood. How reflective. It is horrific and even dystopian that in the world today there are still laws against women’s rights to their own bodies. Rights to living a life they want to plan and pursue. What’s even scarier is that it’s completely out of their hands and control, this film exemplifies this fear and we can’t ignore the lingering theme of religion within this film. If you look deeper into the layers and see through a different lens, this film isn’t that far from reality as one may first expect, and that’s why the film is strong.
Looking at the film technically, however, there are some aspects that don’t let the film reach its fullest potential. As a whole, though, this film really does get the brain going; the cinematography is beautiful.
Consider yourselves lucky I wrote this one, guys, or you would have just been listening to my dad crush and blabber about Sydney Sweeney (he LOVED anyone but you.)
What did you guys think of “Immaculate”? What did you take away from this film?