When do miracles cross the line into mad science?
As a young girl, Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney – “Madame Web”) suffered a near death experience. It changed her life, and she decided to devote that life to God. When still a novitiate, her local US convent closed. But then she was delighted to get an invitation from Father Tedeschi (Alvaro Morte) to travel to Italy and take her final vows as a nun at a beautiful convent that served dying nuns.
At first, everything seems wonderful there, with a sweet Mother Superior (Dora Romano – “The Hand of God”), and she makes a sarcastic friend in Sister Gwen (Benedetta Porcaroli). Father Tedeschi is also very friendly, and as he and Celilia share their faith journeys, he reveals that he was a biological researcher for years before entering the priesthood.
On the evening of her final vows, Cecilia hears chanting and, following the sound, discovers a lower level beneath the sanctuary where Mother Superior lies prostrate before a reliquary. The Mother reveals the convent possesses a nail from the cross of Christ, brought back from the Holy Land by the mother of Constatine, the first Christian Roman emperor.
Not long after, Cecilia begins suffering strange illnesses and, after examination by the convent physician, she is declared pregnant, even though she is a virgin. The wondrous news spreads rapidly, and the nuns and priests proclaim the pregnancy a miracle. Sister Cecilia is ambivalent to say the least.
Director Michael Mohan (“The Voyeurs”) and writer Andrew Lobel (“Mysteries Unknown”) have woven a fable of faith, sacrifice, objectification of women, science gone awry, and fanaticism. We get a stellar performance from Sydney Sweeney, and an alternately protective and malevolent one from Alvaro Morte. The music is appropriate and adds to the tension without taking over as we move toward the film’s climax. Cinematography and editing are also well done, with artful images of the convent and the beautiful Italian countryside, as well as the maze of the catacomb far below.
One objection, and this is a big one, is to the decision to begin the story with a terrified nun trying to escape from the very same convent. She fails, and ends up buried alive. By starting the film this way, Mohan and Lobel let us know right away what we are in for, instead of letting us discover it for ourselves as the story moves forward normally – and increasingly abnormally.
Note: Sydney Sweeney auditioned for the part of Cecilia way back in 2014 when the film was first being developed. That process fell through, but she got another chance and succeeded eight years later – a small miracle. In fact, however, she helped rescue the project by purchasing the rights to the script, hand selecting the director, and serving as one of the producers, according to “Vulture” magazine.
Runtime: One hour, 29 minutes
Availability: Currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu
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