Synopsis
Alice is young hearing-impaired girl who, after a supposed visitation from the Virgin Mary, is inexplicably able to hear, speak and heal the sick. As word spreads and people from near and far flock to witness her miracles, a disgraced journalist hoping to revive his career visits the small New England town to investigate. When terrifying events begin to happen all around, he starts to question if these phenomena are the works of the Virgin Mary or something much more sinister.
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Cast
- Jeffrey Dean MorganGerry Fenn
- Cricket BrownAlice
- William SadlerFather Hagan
- Katie AseltonNatalie Gates
- Cary ElwesBishop Gyles
- Diogo MorgadoDelgarde
- Bates WilderGeary
- Marina MazepaMary of Elnor
- Christine AdamsMonica Slade
- Dustin TuckerDan Walsh
Recommendations
- 70
Variety
The Unholy is a good tight scary commercial theological horror film. Its spooks and demons unfurl within a pop version of Christianity, which makes it sound no more exotic than last week’s “Exorcist” knockoff or last year’s helping of the “Conjuring” franchise. But The Unholy has a religious plot that actually works for it. - 50
Movie Nation
The effects are top notch and there are some chills in it. It’s just that the picture loses itself and any momentum it has in “explaining” these wonders and healings as the work of a Mary who isn’t the “Virgin Mary” all involved assume it is. - 50
IGN
There are moments in The Unholy that strive for shocking, even sacrilegious. But Spiliotopoulos lacks either the imagination or the guts to create something truly soul-rattling. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
After an intriguing setup that takes its time building atmosphere and characters, declining to rush the first death, the film becomes progressively more overwrought and hokey. It also loads up on derivative tropes that worked better everywhere from Ringu through The Conjuring Universe. - 45
Slashfilm
Whenever The Unholy wants to scare you, it simply enters internet screamer territory, complete with ghoul faces rushing directly into the camera as loud noises boom from somewhere. Outside of these admittedly startling moments, The Unholy unfolds sedately, and sometimes incoherently. - 45
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Eventually, The Unholy reveals itself not to be an entertaining ride to Hell but an earnest sales pitch for the power of Christ. Fair enough. But for Easter 2021, I was hoping for something a little more enjoyably demonic and less been-there-redeemed-that. Let us pray. - 40
Los Angeles Times
Laboriously paced, the indulgent jolts and bloodless scares, neither deeply rooted nor artfully raised, float as lifelessly as a lily pad on a bog. - 40
Screen Daily
This religious-themed horror based around the phenomena of Marian apparitions has an intriguing premise but cuts too many corners in its catechism.
