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The UK in war-torn 1944, at St. Augustine's, a nunnery on an island off the Scottish coast, where the Mother Superior (Maryam d'Abo) has problems enough running the place as it is, with the not exactly pious Eleanor (Michaela Longden), an alcoholic in need of proper treatment, newby nun Agnes (Amber Doig-Thorne), who has problems to grasp the ways of a nun, overly pious Valerie (Elle O'Hara) and shell-shocked Lucy (Lisa Riesner), plus outgoing caretaker Amos (Paul Barber) and his successor Daniel (Nathan Shepka), a veteran suffering from PTSD, who has a hard time keeping his hormones in check amidst all the young nuns. And then one day, someone leaves a baby (Mac Milloy) in a basket at the nunnery's doorstep, and now the nuns see it as their task to take care of the little one as during the oncoming storm they'll be cut off completely from the motherland. Thing is, Agnes thinks she hears the baby talking, and it's the voice of Satan (Tim Spriggs), and subsequently she tries to kill the baby. She's stopped and locked away, and for a time seems to go completely insane. When she finds her composure again though, she can persuade Lucy to release her. Only, Agnes is a changed woman now, and she promptly kills Lucy, then starts to go after the other nuns. The Mother Superior notices nothing of this, as she has been completely taken in by the little one and feels her wish for motherhood finally granted. Thing is, the baby, too, changes, and not for the better ...

The horror in this movie is definitely slowburn - and that works really well for the story at hand as it needs the right and un-rushed build-up for its pretty exciting finale, but is also set in very impressive locations that pretty much ooze atmosphere and a general feel of unease - and of course, the directorial duo manage to capture all this by the busload. And add to that a clever script that also features many a grotesquery, and well fleshed out characters embodied by a very solid cast, and you've got yourself one very fine piece of genre cinema.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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