Consecration review.
Religious horror can be tough sledding. They can largely fall into a “seen one, seen them all” space. So, it’s immediately exciting when a religious movie comes along that doesn’t involve trying to exorcise a demon. Consecration picks a (slightly) different target…but doesn’t quite hit the bullseye.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Consecration
Directed by Christopher Smith
Screenplay by Christopher Smith and Laurie Cook
Starring Jenna Malone, Danny Huston and Janet Suzman
Consecration Review
Currently in theaters and heading soon to Shudder…Consecration is a well made movie that doesn’t amount to as much as it should. Its biggest sticking point is that it continuously finds ways to undermine its fun ideas. The movie opens with the image of a nun crossing the street and pulling a gun on our main character. In that moment you are sure you are about to get a wild ride. Instead, it never gets out of second gear.
Grace (Jena Malone) heads to a convent in Scotland after the death of her brother, a priest who died there under mysterious circumstances. Conflicting with the strict nature of the nuns and uncovering lies regarding the death, Grace also uncovers more about her own past.
Consecration is made with a high level of confidence by director Christopher Smith. He almost manages to lull you into not noticing how little is going on. Part investigation, part examination of religion…it never becomes more than sort of interesting. It’s a movie that knows exactly what it wants to do…and it pulls it off. The problem is that what it’s doing isn’t very entertaining.
This is no fault of the cast. There are solid performances throughout. Jena Malone takes center stage and does a fine job with a character who has to look interested in a situation that gets less interesting as it unfolds. Like Smith’s direction, Malone almost makes you buy in.
So, what went wrong? The screenplay turns away from every interesting situation it presents. A gun is introduced in the opening moments. Both literally and metaphorically, Consecration never lets it go off. A third act reveal gives you a moment of belief that things are finally going to break into chaos, ending the film with an exciting flourish. That gun never goes off either.
What we get is a character study. We learn things about Grace as the story unfolds but the script introduces things in a sloppy fashion. We get hints of things in dreams and visions. Things that have happened and things that will. Eventually, it all gets tied to what her brother was doing at the convent in the first place. Like most of Consecration, it’s all only kind of interesting. It does culminate in that tease of a great finish…but it too swerves into something less interesting.
We can’t get into the most interesting aspect of Consecration because this is a spoiler free review. But there is something to sink your teeth into eventually. Unfortunately, the screenplay drops the ball on this as well. A slow burn is only worthwhile if it eventually explodes. Don’t introduce a gun if you aren’t going to fire it. Consecration builds to a moment where everything should combust into a thrilling third act. Instead, it’s just another trigger that doesn’t get pulled.
The movie believes it has a good reason for these choices. The confidence that Consecration is telling a story interesting enough to overcome passing on entertainment is its greatest flaw. It is a character study above all. It perceives the complexity of the character as more important than delivering any thrills. It just never quite is.
Scare Value
Consecration is confident in its storytelling…but it shouldn’t be. What it has to reveal isn’t the surprise that it seems to think it is. There is a moment in the climax where you think all hell is about to break loose…but it doesn’t. Instead, it gives us a montage revealing something that you probably already figured out. A zig here instead of the presented zag had the potential to elevate the movie a few degrees. But it’s not the story that Consecration is interested in telling. You’d have to change the intent of the entire film. It should have.
2/5
Consecration Link
Rent/Buy on VOD from Vudu
Rent/Buy on VOD from Amazon
Consecration Trailer
If you enjoyed this review of Consecration, check out our reviews of other religious horror movies The Offering and Prey for the Devil
