Agnes is 2 films for the value of nun –

Come for the horror-comedy, hold for the psychological drama

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’Tis the season for weird nun movies, I suppose. December has already seen the discharge of Benedetta , Paul Verhoeven’s based-in-truth story of a Seventeenth-century lesbian nun. It felt tonally inconsistent – shades of extreme camp amid the historic drama – nonetheless it’s obtained nothing on Agnes .

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Director and co-writer Mickey Reece’s new film begins in comic-horror territory sooner than a mid-plot switcheroo that introduces a bunch of newest characters and a further dramatic tone. Nonetheless offered {that a} kind of newcomers (Sean Gunn) is a slapstick comedian, the humour continues, after a vogue.

The end result’s unlikely to please most viewers. Come for the horror – and the poster, with its upside-down crucifix and dripping blood, ensures as quite a bit – and in addition you’re extra prone to uncover the second half somewhat little bit of a drag. Be prepared for the psychological drama that I guarantee is coming, and in addition you’ve obtained a protracted wait sooner than that hand is even dealt, to not point out its payoff.

The film’s second half is every the quietest and the strongest part of the story, as Sister Mary (Molly C. Quinn) decides to go away the convent the place an exorcism occurred. Out on this planet, she finds it arduous to connect with people and even to make ends meet. Her landlord raises the rent after his partner suspects Mary is paying for part of it in intercourse (she isn’t), whereas her boss on the grocery retailer makes an an identical proposition regarding her wages.

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And the first half – correctly, it’s a pleasant little little bit of zaniness, as a result of the cynical and disgraced Father Donaghue (Ben Hall) investigates a attainable demonic possession at a convent, no matter calling exorcism “one of many essential elaborate observe and dance acts the world has ever seen.” He’s accompanied by Benjamin (Jake Horowitz), a youthful acolyte whose magnificence are a distraction to Sister Honey (Zandy Hartig).

And the bizarre leap inside the middle? Correctly, offered that the religion on which that’s based has as its holy e e-book a tome whose first half was written between 1200 and 200 BC, and its second (with mannequin new characters) on the very least 300 years after that – correctly, on the very least there’s precedent.

Agnes opens Dec. 10 in Toronto and Vancouver, and on demand.

2.5 stars out of 5