The Unholy
2021 · Directed by Evan Spiliotopoulos
Original language: English
- horror
- mystery
The story
Alice is a 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.
What it’s like
Cold, desaturated winter light over a small New England town, with grey skies, bare trees and dim, candle-warm churches that feel close and airless. The camera leans on conventional horror grammar: slow pushes toward dark doorways, quick cuts to faces, and sudden jump scares set against a score that swells with choral strings before dropping into stings. The mood is somber and suspicious, with a creeping religious dread that turns from reverent to unsettling. The pacing is steady rather than frantic, building through crowds, whispered rumours and small uncanny details before it erupts. Its people are mostly drawn as wary and compromised, and the central arc follows a cynical man slowly losing his certainty. Intensity runs moderate to high: frequent jump scares, some bloody violence, disturbing demonic imagery and blasphemous moments, with fear more prominent than gore. It suits a dark evening with the lights off, for viewers who enjoy possession and church-set horror with a mystery underneath.
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