{"id":52391,"date":"2024-03-11T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zombiegaming.org\/?p=52391"},"modified":"2024-03-31T21:52:23","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T05:52:23","slug":"how-sydney-sweeney-and-her-immaculate-director-made-their-sexy-gory-nun-movie-as-f-ing-extreme-as-possible-variety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zombiegaming.org\/2024\/03\/11\/how-sydney-sweeney-and-her-immaculate-director-made-their-sexy-gory-nun-movie-as-f-ing-extreme-as-possible-variety\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sydney Sweeney and Her \u2018Immaculate\u2019 Director Made Their Sexy, Gory Nun Movie as \u2018F\u2014ing Extreme\u2019 as Possible – Variety"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSydney Sweeney<\/a> is one of Hollywood\u2019s biggest stars, but fans are sure to be shocked by her wild new horror movie that pushes her creativity in front of and behind the camera to new extremes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cImmaculate<\/a>\u201d is the third project that director Michael Mohan and Sweeney have collaborated on, after the 2018 series \u201cEverything Sucks!\u201d and the 2021 thriller \u201cThe Voyeurs.\u201d Their newest creative vision is a project filled with twists, blood and a surprising amount of horniness for a movie set at an Italian convent. Sweeney plays Cecilia, an American nun who transfers to Italy and is forced to face a lot of dark secrets hidden in the walls of the gorgeous nunnery. Sweeney is also a producer on the film, which is set to debut on Tuesday at this year\u2019s South by Southwest festival.<\/p>\n

\n\tMohan spoke with Variety<\/em> about the unlikely genesis of the project, the importance of cinema not shying away from sensuality onscreen and how Sweeney was able to make the movie even scarier.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat was the genesis of \u201cImmaculate\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s the first film I\u2019ve directed that I did not write myself. Andrew Lobel wrote this script about 18 years ago, and in the mid-2010s it was about to be made with a studio. Sydney, when she was 15 or 16, auditioned for the lead role. The character wasn\u2019t a nun back then \u2014 it was a high schooler \u2014 and she was one of the last two people up for the role. Then it just sort of evaporated. <\/p>\n

\n\tAndrew stepped away from the business at that point. He was fed up and went and worked in video games for a while. Years later, Sydney does \u201cEuphoria\u201d Season 2, and all of her fans are going, \u201cYou need to do a horror movie.\u201d She wanted to get into producing too, and so they were reading every single script around town, just trying to find something that resonated. And she said, \u201cYou know what? The best horror script I ever read was this thing I auditioned for. I wonder if I can resurrect it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tImagine you\u2019re Andrew Lobel, you get a phone call, and it\u2019s Sydney Sweeney on the other end, saying, \u201cHey, I auditioned for your script 10 years ago. Do you think I could make it?\u201d And she did. She sent the script to me, and when I read it\u2026it takes a lot to shock me. When I saw the different reveals that happen in the script, I genuinely didn\u2019t see them coming, and I\u2019m someone who writes movies with lots of twist endings.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe script feels like it could have come out of the grindhouse era, in terms of being so transgressive with the mix of sex, religion and violence \u2014 yet it\u2019s shot with such a sense of style. How were you able to balance those ideas and tones?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI look at the horror movies that were made during the American New Wave. If you look at \u201cRosemary\u2019s Baby\u201d or \u201cDon\u2019t Look Now,\u201d what I love about those films is that you feel intimate with the main characters, yet they are cinematic. Even though the stories are told in these elegant and classy ways, they have this sense of danger. In \u201cThe Exorcist,\u201d there are images in that film that movies today have not topped, in terms of how disturbing they are. So that\u2019s what I wanted to do: make the boldest film I possibly could that will, hopefully, stand the test of time and get under your skin.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat is Sydney like as a creative partner?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s like watching someone do a magic trick. I started working with Syd back in 2016 on \u201cEverything Sucks!\u201d The joy of working with Sydney goes way beyond her acting talent. Even back then, she was the type of person who would stay after wrap and shadow what the first AC was doing. She would ask them questions about why they\u2019re choosing which lenses, and she would sit with the sound recordist and talk to them about why they\u2019re using these microphones.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was that sense of curiosity, the fact that she is a cinephile and that level of respect that she has for the entire crew that inspires everybody to do their best work. As a director, you want that partner with you, because every day is a battle to get your shots. To have someone right at your side that\u2019s helping you rally everybody together \u2014 it\u2019s amazing. <\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the things that I appreciated about both her and her producing partner Jonathan Davino, as well as producer David Bernad, who she worked with on \u201cWhite Lotus,\u201d was they tried to push me to make something commercial. To make something that, because I think the message behind the movie is just too important to limit the audience by making something too esoteric, we just wanted to have the jump scares that audiences have come to love. We wanted to balance out all that disturbing stuff with something that felt a little bit more like a popcorn movie, and she was so instrumental in helping me bridge the gap in terms of not compromising my voice visually or artistically.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\u201cImmaculate\u201d: Sydney Sweeney (center), director Michael Mohan (kneeling)<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy Everett Collection<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tRecent studies<\/a> have found that Gen Z is less interested in seeing sex and sensuality depicted onscreen. \u201cImmaculate\u201d and your previous film \u201cThe Voyeurs\u201d have not shied away from either element. When you\u2019re preparing to shoot your films, do you ever consider the \u201cnecessity\u201d of sexually-charged scenes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t It is<\/em> necessary. Movies should elicit a number of responses: Funny movies should be funny, dramatic movies should make you cry. We used to have movies that were sexy, that would turn people on, and there\u2019s absolutely nothing wrong with that. It\u2019s a spice that is missing in our current cinematic landscape that we absolutely need. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn the script, there was a scene where Cecilia and her friend (Benedetta Porcaroli) were having a heart-to-heart. I\u2019m the one who said, \u201cLet\u2019s put them in the bathtub, and let\u2019s shoot it as elegantly as possible,\u201d where they\u2019re wearing these gowns that are a little bit sheer, but not over the top. The fact that it\u2019s sexy is not a bad thing. It is OK to make movies that are sexy. And if that\u2019s something that you\u2019re not into, don\u2019t watch. That\u2019s not the audience I\u2019m going for. I think it\u2019s all talk, because \u201cThe Voyeurs\u201d was massively successful on Amazon. They\u2019re watching it, they\u2019re just not admitting to watching it.<\/p>\n

\n\tSydney promoted this wild movie with an appearance<\/a> hosting \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201d Are you surprised that such a boundary-pushing project is making its way into the mainstream?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt gives me hope. That\u2019s one of the things that I think is so remarkable about Sydney is that she will do a movie like \u201cReality,\u201d and, in doing so, she brings all of these people who have never been exposed to that kind of slow cinema. I think this horror movie is a popcorn movie first and foremost. It\u2019s a roller coaster ride, but the ending is fucking extreme<\/em>. People are going to walk away having an extreme reaction to it, and that\u2019s all her. She wants to push the envelope, but she wants to do it thoughtfully. I know she loves the movie, and I\u2019m proud of us for not pulling our punches.<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch the trailer for \u201cImmaculate\u201d below.<\/p>\n

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