Director: Christopher Smith
Year: 2025
Country: United Kingdom/USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Hearing of her brother’s death, a woman travels to a remote convent in Scotland to investigate what happened, eventually finding the convent where he was staying to be marked by a peculiar spell of erratic behavior that hints at something far more nefarious than expected, controlling everything.
Review:
This was a decent enough if somewhat underwhelming feature at times. One of the better aspects of this one comes from the wholly intriguing and atmospheric starting point that gives this one a fine mystery to unravel. With the call for her to be sent out to the remote convent to look into what happened to her brother who was staying there and finding the life that goes there being quite bizarre as if attempting to hide something the longer she stays there which is pretty much how the scenario plays out yet still serves rather serviceably here. It provides the necessary ingredients to get her out to the location in the first place, the motivation to stay there despite how the pushback operates, and keeps the intentions of everyone hidden, as their actions don’t always align until late in the film. It’s a solid enough way for these types of films to go about as the gradual uncovering of far more deviant ideas at play manages to bring about some strong scenes here and there.
That setup provides the fun launching pad for the series of enjoyably cruel and barbaric activities present in the second half, detailing what’s really going on at the convent. With the gradual reveal of the sacred relic in their possession at the convent grounds and the use of her brother to investigate what’s going on, only for him to be so distraught over it that it led to his death, it provides the groundwork for the kind of insanity to come in the latter half. Operating with more of an overt bent to keep everything hidden rather than being discreet, the bloodsoaked rampage that takes place is generally quite fun, bringing about some enjoyable aspects once the full reveal is brought about, involving a murder mystery at its core. Combined with a genuinely moody and effectively atmospheric convent location where everything takes place in which looks appropriately dark and dreary, this all manages to bring about some good points here.
There are some problems with this one that hold it down. The main drawback here is the fact that there’s not much here that separates this from dozens of other religious-based genre efforts taking place at a convent like this. The shady nature of what’s going on at the location, with stories not matching up, secrecy in the name of keeping devotion to Good the highest priority, and the stalwart ally trying to get to the bottom of everything with her running afoul of their plans all come into play here and they don’t leave that strong an impression. It reads far more as a redundant and by-the-numbers type of affair as the story goes along, especially with the series of unnecessary and somewhat infuriating flashbacks that do nothing to help the story get any clearer and just come off as a means to enhance the running time. With a dull pace until the finale, making this recycled material feel rather dull to get through, there are some drawbacks to be had here.
Overview: ***/5
A watchable if generally formulaic religious horror effort, there’s enough here to be enjoyable for what it is, although far too much of it is brought down by the issues on display, which leave it as it stands. Those with an interest in the subject matter, don’t mind the drawbacks on display, or are who are fans of the creative crew, will have the most to like, while most others out there should heed caution.
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