Prime Time: The Voyeurs (2021)

We seem to be moving more and more towards disappointingly tame and sexless entertainment nowadays. Let's face it, there's no room for a new Shannon Tweed to come on the scene and make her mark, and the heyday of the raunchy erotic thrillers continues to get smaller and smaller in our rear-view mirrors. Some people still try to spice things up though, and congratulations are due to writer-director Michael Mohan for giving us some entertaining sexy shenanigans presented with a pleasing lack of haughtiness.

Sydney Sweeney and Justice Smith are Pippa and Thomas, respectively. They are young and in love, and making their new life together in their new home. There’s a surprising special feature of their new home though, which is a front row seat to the lusty couple who live over the street from them. One is a photographer (Seb, played by Ben Hardy). His partner (Julia, played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo) seems very supportive, but is perhaps unaware of how many people he is having sex with behind her back. Pippa and Thomas become more and more engrossed in the unfolding drama, even figuring out a way to eavesdrop of various conversations, and it soon becomes clear that the situation is quite unhealthy. But will it ruin the relationship between them?

I am not going to spend time trying to convince people that this is great. There are some already determined to avoid it simply because of it being an erotic thriller. Thankfully, it’s a very good erotic thriller, and a decent way to spend just under two hours of your time (which is still a bit too long, but the pacing helps it feel like a shorter movie). It doesn’t rank alongside the greats of the sub-genre, and there’s still a reticence to really wallow in the flesh in a way akin to movies from decades ago, but it does a decent job of delivering decent characters, some fun twists, a handful of scenes featuring some nudity, and just enough details to make the ridiculousness of the third act feel grounded in some kind of reality. Mohan knows what he is doing, and he is helped by the central cast.

Both Hardy and Bordizzo are cool and beautiful people, and they both emanate an aura that you can understand would make them intriguing to spy on. Smith and Sweeney, on the other hand, do a good job of being quite a normal couple who find themselves exploring brand new territory together. Sweeney also ends up baring a bit more than her onscreen partner, which she does while keeping her character appropriately wavering between being nervous and being thrilled. There are one or two other cast members, but the focus remains on the central quartet, and everyone treats the material with an enjoyable earnestness that works in its favour.

I have heard other people praise this, which means I am certainly not in a group all on my own again, and the recent ascension of Sydney Sweeney will no doubt have more people finding out about it, but I am happy that I can, for what it’s worth, add my own endorsement. The fact that I could see where things were going once the final scenes began to play out just added to the fun of the batty conclusion, and I hope others enjoy it as much as I did.

7/10

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Immaculate (2024)

I have rarely had such a fast turnaround on my opinion of someone as I have experienced with my opinion of Sydney Sweeney. It was only a month or so ago that I said I would probably not be interested in many, if any, of her main acting credits and now I cannot wait to see whatever she does next. Whether the films are good or bad, and she has covered the spectrum in the past year or two, she seems intent on making the most of her moment in the sunshine, and that is reflected in the interesting variety of her projects.

Immaculate is a film you could basically label as “nunsploitation”. People might try to argue against that, but the dark heartbeat running throughout it, as well as the wild final moments, make it a film I could easily imagine slotting nicely aside many of the less mainstream titles in that particular sub-genre. In fact, add a bit of grime, dub our lead actress, and throw in a load of gratuitous nudity and this would easily feel like a ‘70s Euro-horror.

Sweeney plays Cecilia, a young woman who joins a remote convent in Italy. She is working hard to learn the Italian language, but seems to receive a relatively warm welcome from most of the convent residents. She is viewed differently, however, when she becomes pregnant, an apparently immaculate conception. Many are very happy with the news, including Father Sal Tedeschi (Àlvaro Morte), but some are not.

The fact that director Michael Mohan has worked with Sweeney before, with the two of them seeming to have got along great with one another, is unsurprising. This is the kind of film role that would be best performed under the guidance of someone you know and trust. It’s also no surprise to see that writer Andrew Lobel doesn’t have too many other credits, considering how far he is willing to go with the wilder aspects of his writing. 

Just to clarify, the majority of Immaculate is a low-key mix of tension and paranoia. It’s very well done though, and paves the way for a third act that I am going to call enjoyable ballsy. There’s a feeling of everything being ever so slightly off-kilter, largely thanks to the opening scene, and every plot development feels like it could allow the film to go off in any one of a dozen different directions. 

The supporting cast do a perfectly fine job, especially Morte, but this film works as well as it does thanks to Sweeney in the main role. Her character isn’t given too much detail, and she takes a while to unravel the odd reality of her situation, but her performance draws you in while she is vulnerable and confused, making her more pro-active moments less expected and much more satisfying. While many horror fans might lose patience with this, it is definitely a genre piece, and Sweeney shows that she can definitely hold her own with any of the legendary scream queens.

I really enjoyed this, as I’m sure you can tell. It’s a strange and quite bonkers tale that is told by people with confidence in their abilities to really sell it. For those who will end up disliking it, I hope you will at least be able to appreciate the fact that it was made. And if other big names are encouraged to have a go in movies with a similar vibe . . . all the better.

8/10

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