{ "id": "ephkjddgf1", "slug": "immaculate", "title": "Immaculate", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": 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Psychological horror films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.psychological-horror-films", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.psychological-horror-films", "label": "Psychological horror films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.psychological-horror-films" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Immaculate is a 2024 American religious horror film directed by Michael Mohan, written by Andrew Lobel, starring Sydney Sweeney as nun Cecilia, produced by Fifty-Fifty Films and Black Bear, released by Neon March 22, 2024, grossing $15.7M with a 71% Tomatometer score.", "snippet": "Immaculate is a 2024 American religious horror film directed by Michael Mohan, written by Andrew Lobel, starring Sydney Sweeney as nun Cecilia, produced by Fifty-Fifty Films and Black Bear, released by Neon March 22, 2024, grossing $15.7M with a 71% Tomatometer score.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.psychological-horror-films.psychological-horror-films-2010s-and-lat", "markdown": "# Immaculate\n\n**Immaculate** is a 2024 American religious horror film directed by [Michael Mohan](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-mohan), written by Andrew Lobel, and starring [Sydney Sweeney](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-sweeney) as Cecilia, a devout American nun whose pregnancy despite her virginity turns out to be the result of a secret experiment at an Italian convent.[1](https://www.neonrated.com/film/immaculate) • [8](https://time.com/6959849/immaculate-ending-explained/) Produced by Sweeney's Fifty-Fifty Films with Black Bear Pictures and distributed by Neon, it opened in wide theatrical release on March 22, 2024.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/immaculate_2024) • [2](https://blackbearpictures.com/film-and-tv/immaculate)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | Wide theatrical release March 22, 2024 (Neon); streaming April 16, 2024[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/immaculate_2024) |\n| Director / writer | Michael Mohan; screenplay by Andrew Lobel[1](https://www.neonrated.com/film/immaculate) |\n| Lead cast | Sydney Sweeney (Sister Cecilia), Álvaro Morte (Father Sal Tedeschi), Benedetta Porcaroli (Sister Gwen), Simona Tabasco (Sister Mary), Giorgio Colangeli (Cardinal Franco Merola)[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/immaculate-2024) |\n| Runtime / rating | 1 hour 29 minutes; rated R for nudity, grisly images, some language, and strong violent content[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/immaculate_2024) |\n| Box office | $15.7 million gross in the United States[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/immaculate_2024) |\n| Critical scores | 71% Tomatometer from 213 reviews; 58% audience Popcornmeter; Metacritic 56[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/immaculate_2024) • [12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/immaculate/) |\n| Production companies | Fifty-Fifty Films, Black Bear Pictures[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/immaculate_2024) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nCecilia, a young American woman whose faith is her life, travels to a prestigious convent in the Italian countryside that also serves as a hospice for dying nuns.[4](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/immaculate-2024) • [8](https://time.com/6959849/immaculate-ending-explained/) After taking her vows, an ultrasound confirms that she is pregnant despite her virginity, and the convent treats the event as a miracle: she is dressed in robes reminiscent of the Virgin Mary, relieved of her duties, and told by the Mother Superior, \"No work. Your job is baby.\"[8](https://time.com/6959849/immaculate-ending-explained/)\n\nAs the pregnancy progresses, Cecilia weakens and grows uneasy. A fellow nun, Sister Isabelle, tries to drown her in the bath shouting \"You have to try again! It was supposed to be me!\" and falls to her death from the convent roof the next day. Father Tedeschi and Dr. Gatto refuse to let Cecilia visit a hospital.[8](https://time.com/6959849/immaculate-ending-explained/)\n\nIn the ending, Cecilia escapes into the catacombs and gives birth in daylight to a creature whose gurgling, wheezing sounds make clear that something is wrong. The film implies the origin of the supposed miracle: Father Tedeschi's experiment relied on millennia-old genetic material harvested from a nail relic, of doubtful authenticity as a relic of Jesus or even as human DNA. Cecilia kills the newborn experiment with a stone, and the film closes on her scream, a take that was, according to an interview with TODAY, the first take and completely unrehearsed.[8](https://time.com/6959849/immaculate-ending-explained/)\n\n## Development\n\nThe project took close to two decades to reach the screen. Andrew Lobel conceived the story about 18 years before release, and an earlier studio version nearly went into production; Sweeney, then unknown, auditioned for that version and had multiple callbacks before the film fell apart.[6](https://dailydead.com/immaculate-interview-with-director-michael-mohan-discussing-the-making-of-the-film-the-reaction-to-the-ending-and-more/) The Associated Press reports that she auditioned a decade before release, when she was 16.[10](https://apnews.com/article/efe67992b0bf35c5f51b7f359e6f1829)\n\n**Sweeney's revival of the script.** After the second season of *Euphoria*, Sweeney and her producing partner Jonathan Davino, together with producer David Bernad, contacted Lobel to resurrect the project. Sweeney acquired and revised the script, hired a director, found financiers, and sold the film to Neon.[6](https://dailydead.com/immaculate-interview-with-director-michael-mohan-discussing-the-making-of-the-film-the-reaction-to-the-ending-and-more/) • [9](https://au.variety.com/2024/film/features/sydney-sweeney-immaculate-glen-powell-euphoria-season-3-13164/) She had a three-month window in her schedule; when she sent the script to Mohan, with whom she had worked on the series *Everything Sucks!*, he agreed and was on the ground in Rome three months later.[6](https://dailydead.com/immaculate-interview-with-director-michael-mohan-discussing-the-making-of-the-film-the-reaction-to-the-ending-and-more/) • [5](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-03-12/sydney-sweeney-immaculate-sxsw-director-michael-mohan)\n\nLobel's original screenplay differed substantially from the final film; Mohan said a mid-story reveal convinced him to join, and the script was drastically revised to fit Sweeney and the present day while keeping the story's through line.[7](https://rue-morgue.com/exclusive-interview-immaculate-director-michael-mohan-on-italian-horror-influences-sydney-sweeneys-body-horror-and-more/) • [5](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-03-12/sydney-sweeney-immaculate-sxsw-director-michael-mohan)\n\n## Style and influences\n\nMohan has said the film is deliberately not supernatural: there is no computer-generated creature for Cecilia to fight, and the horror is grounded in the convent's scheme. He referenced 1970s cinema, including *Rosemary's Baby* and early giallo (Italian stylized slasher-mystery horror genre of the 1970s) films, naming *What Have You Done to Solange?* as a major influence, and used a Bruno Nicolai song from the 1970s in one montage.[6](https://dailydead.com/immaculate-interview-with-director-michael-mohan-discussing-the-making-of-the-film-the-reaction-to-the-ending-and-more/)\n\nThe film was shot at Villa Parisi, a location with its own history in Italian horror: *Bay of Blood*, *Burial Ground*, and *Blood for Dracula* were all filmed there. Mohan said finding the location \"unlocked the entire movie\" as the production sought to stand out within the long tradition of nun and nunsploitation films.[7](https://rue-morgue.com/exclusive-interview-immaculate-director-michael-mohan-on-italian-horror-influences-sydney-sweeneys-body-horror-and-more/) [Body horror](https://www.edgepedia.org/body-horror) drawn from real experience also entered the script; Mohan told Sweeney that one of his mother's teeth turned black during his birth and had to be removed, and she insisted on putting it in the film.[7](https://rue-morgue.com/exclusive-interview-immaculate-director-michael-mohan-on-italian-horror-influences-sydney-sweeneys-body-horror-and-more/)\n\n## Release and reception\n\n*Immaculate* premiered at the South by Southwest Film and TV Festival on March 12, 2024, and opened in United States theaters ten days later.[5](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-03-12/sydney-sweeney-immaculate-sxsw-director-michael-mohan) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/immaculate_2024) It grossed $15.7 million in the United States.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/immaculate_2024)\n\nCritics generally credited Sweeney's performance more than the film around it. Rotten Tomatoes' critics consensus reads, \"Immaculate in conception if not always in execution, this religiously themed horror outing is saved by a divine performance from Sydney Sweeney,\" and the audience summary notes that viewers found the movie not all that scary and the ending divisive.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/immaculate_2024) The Associated Press review called the film a showcase for Sweeney's range but judged it unsure of the point it was trying to make.[10](https://apnews.com/article/efe67992b0bf35c5f51b7f359e6f1829) Metacritic assigned a score of 56 based on 33 critic reviews.[12](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/immaculate/) In Spain, where the film opened May 1, 2024, *El País* placed it in the nuncore tradition of Catholic-imagery horror and noted that a confederation of US pastors had cataloged it as morally offensive for its blasphemy, bloody violence, nudity, and infanticide.[13](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-04-10/de-monjas-inmaculadas-a-exorcistas-superheroicos-el-cine-de-terror-reza-a-la-iglesia-catolica.html)\n\n## Immaculate and The First Omen\n\n*Immaculate* became one of 2024's clearest examples of the \"twin films\" phenomenon: *The First Omen*, a prequel to *The Omen*, reached theaters two weeks later with a strikingly similar premise, a naive devout American who travels to Italy to join a convent and uncovers a conspiracy involving her own pregnancy.[11](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/netflix/netflix-just-added-one-of-sydney-sweeneys-most-overlooked-movies-dont-worry-its-not-madame-web) Both films are set in Italian Catholic convents and are built on religious themes and imagery.[11](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/netflix/netflix-just-added-one-of-sydney-sweeneys-most-overlooked-movies-dont-worry-its-not-madame-web) Because *The First Omen* carried ties to an established horror franchise, it won the box office comparison, and reviewers such as RogerEbert.com treated it as a more serious companion piece examining the hypocrisy of religion.[11](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/netflix/netflix-just-added-one-of-sydney-sweeneys-most-overlooked-movies-dont-worry-its-not-madame-web) • [14](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-first-omen-movie-review-2024) The two films differ in emphasis: *Immaculate* leans toward psychological horror and concentrates on the suffering inflicted on Cecilia's body by the pregnancy, while *The First Omen* plays as a more overtly supernatural franchise entry.[15](https://www.freekittensmovieguide.com/2024/07/immaculate-more-catholic-shenanigans.html)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Immaculate, NEON (official film page)](https://www.neonrated.com/film/immaculate)\n2. [Immaculate, Black Bear Pictures](https://blackbearpictures.com/film-and-tv/immaculate)\n3. [Immaculate (2024), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/immaculate_2024)\n4. [Immaculate streaming: where to watch movie online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/immaculate-2024)\n5. [Sydney Sweeney on being \"dorky\" and going dark for \"Immaculate,\" Los Angeles Times (March 12, 2024)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-03-12/sydney-sweeney-immaculate-sxsw-director-michael-mohan)\n6. [IMMACULATE Interview with Director Michael Mohan, Daily Dead (March 29, 2024)](https://dailydead.com/immaculate-interview-with-director-michael-mohan-discussing-the-making-of-the-film-the-reaction-to-the-ending-and-more/)\n7. [Exclusive Interview: \"IMMACULATE\" director Michael Mohan on Italian horror influences, Rue Morgue (March 25, 2024)](https://rue-morgue.com/exclusive-interview-immaculate-director-michael-mohan-on-italian-horror-influences-sydney-sweeneys-body-horror-and-more/)\n8. [Breaking Down the Unsettling Ending of Immaculate, TIME (March 22, 2024)](https://time.com/6959849/immaculate-ending-explained/)\n9. [Sydney Sweeney on 'Immaculate' and more, Variety (March 19, 2024)](https://au.variety.com/2024/film/features/sydney-sweeney-immaculate-glen-powell-euphoria-season-3-13164/)\n10. [Movie Review: Things get scary for Sydney Sweeney in a creepy Italian convent in 'Immaculate,' AP News (March 20, 2024)](https://apnews.com/article/efe67992b0bf35c5f51b7f359e6f1829)\n11. [Netflix just added one of Sydney Sweeney's most overlooked movies, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/netflix/netflix-just-added-one-of-sydney-sweeneys-most-overlooked-movies-dont-worry-its-not-madame-web)\n12. [Immaculate Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/immaculate/)\n13. [De monjas inmaculadas a exorcistas superheroicos, El País (April 10, 2024)](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-04-10/de-monjas-inmaculadas-a-exorcistas-superheroicos-el-cine-de-terror-reza-a-la-iglesia-catolica.html)\n14. [The First Omen movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-first-omen-movie-review-2024)\n15. [IMMACULATE: More Catholic Shenanigans, Free Kittens Movie Guide (July 3, 2024)](https://www.freekittensmovieguide.com/2024/07/immaculate-more-catholic-shenanigans.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Psychological horror films › Psychological horror films, 2010s and later*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/immaculate", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/immaculate.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Immaculate\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/immaculate. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Immaculate](https://www.edgepedia.org/immaculate)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/immaculate](https://www.edgepedia.org/immaculate). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Immaculate\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/immaculate. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Immaculate is a 2024 American religious horror film directed by Michael Mohan, written by Andrew Lobel, starring Sydney Sweeney as nun Cecilia, produced by Fifty-Fifty Films and Black Bear, released by Neon March 22, 2024, grossing $15.7M with a 71% Tomatometer score." }