Secret diaries in code! Guardian angels! Spooky halls! Murder most foul! And abusive upbringings! Consecration certainly doesn't shy away from the tried and true horror tropes of bloody horror happenings, it just doesn’t always give the people what they want as the 12th century gets its “creepy” on.
Okay, so people still can’t get enough of conspiratorial nuns (read as: evil) and, admittedly, the horror trope is a fun one to explore as it allows for a whole lot of crazy to seep in. There’s something in all the secrets and religion that just tugs at our fear and doubt. Something otherworldly that tells us - NO! - such things can’t be.
And that’s exactly where Grace (a very good performance from Jena Malone) is as the film begins: she just doesn’t trust the story the church is giving her about the death of her brother . . . so she goes to Scotland to find out for herself.
What is it that these whacked out nuns are hiding?! And that’s the journey Grace is on, but is she ready for the whole scope of the truth?
Thankfully, writer/director Christopher Smith opens his film with a shocking scene as a Mother Superior (Janet Suzman) whips out a gun and lowers it at the screen. It’s a moment which takes our breath away as we wonder what exactly has happened here to make this moment happen: a nun killing someone?!
And that’s when the spiraling of events begins. There’s a story to tell here after all and its the story that DCI Harris (Thoren Ferguson) must share with Grace about the death of her brother. Of course, she has her doubts - especially when demonic possession is brought up as a reason for him to kill another priest and then himself.
Just what has happened here? Grace wants the truth. Even if it challenges her own lack of faith.
Consecration might lose some of its twisted gusto as it turns into a pretty basic procedural involving the murder-suicide of Grace’s stranged priest brother Michael (Steffan Cennydd), but the journey is one worth taking as we get a whole lot of creepy religious ceremonies, a cast which includes Father Romero (Danny Huston), who is cleansing the haunted halls and chambers of Mount Saviour Convent after the brutal deaths. But even he is not to be trusted.
Also starring Will Keen, Ian Pirie, Steffan Cennydd, Angela White, Kit Rakusen, Eilidh Fisher, and Jolade Obasola, Consecration doesn’t have anything new to say when it comes to Catholic-themed horror happenings, but it manages to be entertaining due to its highly engaged cast and its slightly skewed leanings into nasty nun nuttiness.
Vertigo Releasing will unleash the unholy horror Consecration on Digital Platforms from 16th June. Time to get your habit neatly folded!
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 91 mins
Director: Christopher Smith
Writer: Christopher Smith; Laurie Cook
Cast: Janet Suzman; Jena Malone; Valerie Sarruf
Genre: Horror | Thriller
Tagline: Blessed Be the Curse
Memorable Movie Quote: "My mother's dead and my father's in prison for killing her."
Distributor: Vertigo Releasing
Official Site:
Release Date: February 10, 2023
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: After the alleged suicide of her priest brother, Grace travels to the remote Scottish convent where he fell to his death. Distrusting the Church's account, she uncovers murder, sacrilege and a disturbing truth about herself.
