It’s surprising that there hasn’t been more cinematic glosses on Rosemary’s Baby considering how irresistible is the notion of a child born of physical Satanic paternity, but this son-of-a-nun horror story isn’t much of an addition to the sub-genre. For the sake of not spoiling the fun I won’t go too deeply into the story, but suffice to say that the intention of the project depicted is not to produce an heir to the devil, but rather to get Christ back into the world via modern technology. In fact, part of the problem with the premise is how exactly this sleight-of-hand is carried out and why exactly it goes so wrong.

Sydney Sweeney plays only slightly against her publicized hype as Cecilia, a young American woman who, thanks to surviving a perilous childhood accident, decides to dedicate her life to God. For reasons that only become clear much later, she decides to take her vows at a convent in Italy, despite the fact that she speaks no Italian. Upon arrival she meets an array of colorful residents, including the cynical Sister Isabelle (Giulia Heathfield Di Renzi) and the friendly but obviously intimidated Sister Gwen (Benedetta Porcaroli). Naturally, there’s an authoritarian Mother Superior (Dora Romano) and a kindly, over-solicitous head priest, Father Tedeschi (Alvaro Morte), thus providing plenty of characters on which to project Cecilia’s wavering hold on her faith, which is tested by various crises, including the violent death of a fellow nun and visions of a red-masked coven. After Cecilia finally takes her vows the mysteries grow more threatening, culminating in a miracle pregnancy that everyone seems to have expected except, of course, Cecilia, who still insists she’s a virgin. 

Director Michael Mohan and writer Andrew Lobel set up some interesting ideas without taking advantage of them once it’s revealed that Cecilia is with child, in particular the peculiar relationships among the novices and the nature of the convent, where elderly nuns go to live out their last days. Though neither of these ideas are necessary to fortify the horror prerogatives of the film, they could have been developed in such a way as to make Cecilia’s dilemma richer and more involving. I’m all for movies that portray the Catholic Church as a bastion of evil purpose, but it needs to be handled with more imagination than this. 

In English and Italian. Opens July 18 in Tokyo at Shinjuku Musashinokan (03-3354-5670), Human Trust Cinema Shibuya (03-5468-5551).

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