Format: DVD from Sycamore Public Library on basement television.
Immaculate is the second movie about nuns I’ve watched in three days; the other one will show up in the July wrap-up early next month. Neither of the two movies show the church in a positive light. For Immaculate, that lens is going to be one of horror and trauma. It’s worth saying that I am fortunate in my religious past. I didn’t experience any undue religious trauma—nothing more than the typical indoctrinated fear of Hell anyway, and I was also never a Catholic. Immaculate is going to play on the much darker reputation of the Catholic Church, and anyone who has dealt with any Catholic trauma or church trauma in general is going to likely be upset by this.
That said, while the religious trauma aspects of the film aren’t going to trigger anything specific in me, the opening scene certainly is. A young nun (Simona Tabasco) breaks into the room of the Mother Superior of a convent in Italy and steals a ring of keys. She tries to escape but is attacked by four nuns who break her leg and knock her unconscious. When she comes to, she finds herself in a coffin being buried alive. I am claustrophobic, so this was very difficult to watch, although arguably not the most difficult part of the film.
