Film: Immaculate

Tonight, I booked with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for The Ballad of Hattie and James, at The Kiln. But gee.. then The Hideout advertised Immaculate (as he said on Saturday, "the other nun horror film"!). Which I thought I'd rather go to - so I did. At the Vue West End again. And I booked Bella Italia, next door, for dinner.

I was the last out of the office.. and could walk to the restaurant. I was glad to get there in the end - that laptop was weighing on me! I'd stayed a bit late to do the blog, so arrived five minutes late, which wasn't a problem - within 10 minutes, they'd taken my order. And I was starving! I got my wine quickly enough - but waited and waited for my dinner. Which was strange, for this chain, which generally copes excellently with crowds. I wondered why I hadn't even got my starter.. 25 minutes after I ordered (25 very hungry minutes) - well, I should have guessed. Of course, both starter and main arrived together. She was terribly apologetic, offered to take the main away again - but I explained that I simply didn't have time for her to do that, and I'd just have to have them together.

Which I did - and they were as delicious as ever. Huge amount of food all at once though - I was stuffed. Now, I had the pollo Milanese - breaded chicken escalope, grated cheese on top, and a dish of garlic sauce to pour to taste. I always do at this chain - it's just too tasty not to. Interestingly, it caused consternation at the table beside me, where a father seemed to be treating his two teenage sons, and all seemed quite nonplussed that I'd been able to get chicken in an Italian! Yeah, it's not all pizza and pasta, you know! Anyway, I was glad to see they seemed to have fixed their WiFi..

In the end, I was finished in time, and went straight up to the cinema bar, where we were to meet. About five of us ultimately congregated there - unfortunately, the bar was closed for an event, and prepping for another! So we could sit there, but they weren't serving. And we were soon swamped by dozens of people who seemed to have dressed as their favourite characters from a Manga spy series called Spy x Family!  Most entertaining.. anyway, some of our group headed to the downstairs bar to get supplies, and were gone for ages - we quite thought they'd lost their way! No, it turned out, they actually just took forever to be served.. and kudos to the person who bought me a drink!

We headed in, in due course. It's interesting, the front row are recliner seats here, but not the rest - I think it's the Vue Islington where they all are! Well, when the trailers started, I hoped for a good selection - and they were! Some interesting films in the offing. But we were here to see Immaculate..

I saw a review of this that prepared me for it somewhat - and I have to say, he was spot-on. Firstly, yes, Sydney Sweeney, who stars as the young nun who inexplicably becomes pregnant, and who apparently held onto this script for years until she finally made it with her own production company.. is terrific. She carries the film, and is a joy to watch. And it's beautifully shot - the convent where she's based is in an old palazzo, gorgeous architecture and fittings. And the nuns, in their black habits, look so striking against it.

As he also mentions in the review, the film is split into the three trimesters of her pregnancy - and the first two dawdle along fairly peacefully. For the most part. It's in the third part that the film really picks up pace. There is some shocking violence, and a decent amount of gore.. this won't be for everyone. Have to say, I thought the bit where they've just said she should be due any day now, and lo, the Carol of the Bells starts to play as background music.. now, given that they're expecting this birth to be the resurrection of Jesus, that is a clever move.

But oh, the ending.. again, as he says in the review, the ending is something nobody is going to be ambivalent about - they'll love it or hate it. I absolutely loved it, I thought it was quite original, indubitably shocking.. "Brave", he says in the trailer. Yes, highly unexpected - and as I was saying during one of my recent horror chats, after years of watching and reading horror, I no longer look to be scared. I look to be surprised. And this ending surprised the hell outta me.. Kudos, it absolutely made the film for me, and is one I won't forget.

Main quibble about the film - a few jump scares, pretty pointless, as he says in the review. You can see them coming - but they're not the worst I've seen, and the film certainly doesn't rely on them - I don't know why they really included them at all. They don't take away from what I loved about it.. I'd recommend it to anyone with a strong enough stomach for what is quite an amount of blood!

Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again. For a film, I'm thinking of Back to Black.. just waiting for the rating. It is on in the Omniplex.

On Monday, back with UITCS for Life with Oscar at the Arcola.. £10 tickets with the code OSCAR10, when I booked! The "Oscar" in question is the statuette - this is a comedy about making it in Hollywood.

On Tuesday, back with Over 40 Living the Life for another dinner at Greenwich Yacht Club.. and after last Tuesday, I know what not to order!

On Wednesday, with London Literary Walks.. he's BACK!! Great stuff - and he's starting, appropriately for me, with the James Joyce Walk. I was actually supposed to go last night, but it transpired that his popularity is proving a hindrance - he had too many people for last night, and asked his regulars to switch to another date - he was actually doing the walk twice more: tonight, and on Wednesday. So I'm going then.

And next Thursday - back with UITCS, for a new take on A Midsummer Night's Dream (perhaps a bit early) at Wilton's. Wow, Meetup seems to have woken up at last..