After a supposed visitation from the Virgin Mary, young hearing-impaired girl Alice is inexplicably able to hear and speak--and heal the sick. As word spreads and people from near and far flock to witness her miracles, a disgraced journalist hoping to revive his career visits her small New England town to investigate. When terrifying events begin to happen all around, he starts to question if these phenomena are the works of the Virgin Mary or something much more sinister.... (Full plot summary below)
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After a supposed visitation from the Virgin Mary, young hearing-impaired girl Alice is inexplicably able to hear and speak--and heal the sick. As word spreads and people from near and far flock to witness her miracles, a disgraced journalist hoping to revive his career visits her small New England town to investigate. When terrifying events begin to happen all around, he starts to question if these phenomena are the works of the Virgin Mary or something much more sinister.
Leave your thoughts about The Unholy.
| VarietyOwen GleibermanThe Unholy is a good tight scary commercial theological horror film. Its spooks and demons unfurl within a pop version of Christianity, which makes it sound no more exotic than last week’s “Exorcist” knockoff or last year’s helping of the “Conjuring” franchise. But The Unholy has a religious plot that actually works for it. |
| RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyThe Unholy is not designed to be deep, but since glimmers of depth are present, the lack of follow-up makes this a disappointing watch. |
| The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyAfter an intriguing setup that takes its time building atmosphere and characters, declining to rush the first death, the film becomes progressively more overwrought and hokey. It also loads up on derivative tropes that worked better everywhere from Ringu through The Conjuring Universe. |
| IGNKristy PuchkoThere are moments in The Unholy that strive for shocking, even sacrilegious. But Spiliotopoulos lacks either the imagination or the guts to create something truly soul-rattling. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreThe effects are top notch and there are some chills in it. It’s just that the picture loses itself and any momentum it has in “explaining” these wonders and healings as the work of a Mary who isn’t the “Virgin Mary” all involved assume it is. |
| The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzEventually, The Unholy reveals itself not to be an entertaining ride to Hell but an earnest sales pitch for the power of Christ. Fair enough. But for Easter 2021, I was hoping for something a little more enjoyably demonic and less been-there-redeemed-that. Let us pray. |
| SlashfilmChris EvangelistaWhenever The Unholy wants to scare you, it simply enters internet screamer territory, complete with ghoul faces rushing directly into the camera as loud noises boom from somewhere. Outside of these admittedly startling moments, The Unholy unfolds sedately, and sometimes incoherently. |
| Slant MagazineChuck BowenWriter-director Evan Spiliotopoulos barely capitalizes on the luridly sacrilegious implications of the film’s premise. |
| Los Angeles TimesRobert DanielsLaboriously paced, the indulgent jolts and bloodless scares, neither deeply rooted nor artfully raised, float as lifelessly as a lily pad on a bog. |
| Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganThis religious-themed horror based around the phenomena of Marian apparitions has an intriguing premise but cuts too many corners in its catechism. |
