Written by Sam Niles
An nonbeliever coming to Jesus through an investigation isn’t a unique setup for a horror movie, but, to its credit, The Unholy is a twist on the formula.
Disgraced journalist Gerry Finn (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) only cares about finding a big story—regardless of its religious implications. He soon meets the miraculous Alice (Cricket Brown), who spent her life deaf and mute, but one day miraculously begins to hear and speak. Soon, she can cure other disabilities, illnesses, and Gerry’s career, all thanks to the miraculous Mary.
Gerry convinces the Catholic Church to let him interview Alice, claiming his atheism makes him objective, but his non-belief isn’t a defining part of his life. He’s not on some crusade to disprove the supernatural, just an opportunist who knows miracles like Alice’s will attract global attention.
And attention is exactly what Mary wants. The source of Alice’s miracles feigns innocence, convincing most that she’s the blessed virgin. How could she not be? Look at all the nice things she’s doing! Of course, this being a horror movie, Mary is soon revealed to be doing not-so-nice things. Gerry has to decide between the fame Mary promises and the fate of the souls he’s helping her reach.
The majority of The Unholy goes back and forth between “this isn’t horrible” and “this could be getting good.” Director Evan Spiliotopoulos (who also adapted the script from James Herbert’s book, Shine) presents much of the film’s drama with a straight face. The more schlocky elements take a bit of adjusting to enjoy, but The Unholy ends up finding a decent enough middle ground between Gerry’s alcoholism and its creepy-crawly antagonist. I had a hearty, appreciative laugh at an exchange that feels ripped straight out of an 80’s action movie, when Gerry’s former editor tells him, “you would have sold your soul for a story!” Gerry responds with something to the degree of “I’m pretty sure I already did.”
But the film’s “this isn’t that bad, this has potential” middle ground only goes so far when that potential isn’t met. It makes for a tolerable first hour, with the last 30 or so minutes dropping the ball.
Now, the last 30 minutes don’t have some notable drop in quality. Interesting ideas, such as the Church burying its head in the sand over Mary’s true nature, are sloppily summarized in these last 30 minutes. Likewise, Gerry’s entire arc is given a slapdash treatment right before a priest performs an important-exorcism-thing. It’s as though the schedule was cut short, and they had to say new, truncated lines as quickly as possible. (The film was shot during COVID and social distancing impacted the shoot, so something like this may have been the case.)
In the end, The Unholy is a movie whose positives are noteworthy but ultimately don’t amount to anything. Yes, it has a setup for interesting ideas, but it also wasn’t on its way to being a masterpiece ruined solely by a horrible third act. It could have been good, but it wasn’t. In one ear and out the other. It might be worth seeing if you miss (and can safely attend) movie theaters and have already seen what’s out there. But if that’s your motive, it’ll be the theater experience itself that’s memorable, not the movie you saw in it.
