Immaculate, which came out in March, was Sweeney’s first producing credit and a serious foray into horror movies for the Euphoria star. It received generally positive reviews and appealed to fans despite being one of two nun-based horrors to come out in the first half of the year. (The First Omen, a very similar tale, was released the following month.)
However, post-theatrical release, thenew movieisn’t doing so well onstreaming services. Not because audiences aren’t clicking on it, but because it simply doesn’t look good when shrunk onto a small screen.
In particular, the lighting has posed a real issue for viewers, since the movie has appeared incredibly dark on streaming platforms.
IMMACULATE is comically dark. I’m watching it in a dimly lit room in the evening and can barely make out what’s happening on screen. Why would anybody do this intentionally?pic.twitter.com/tz4PriADzU
Viewers took to social media to express their disappointment, which has even caused Immaculate’s director, Michael Mohan, to weigh in.
In response to a complaint on X,he wrote, “I know, man. This was absolutely not done intentionally. We have no control over the compression specs of each platform. It’s a real problem that truly bums me out, and after comparing them all, iTunes is the closest to what we wanted/brighter than the rest.”
One X userresponded, “It’s not fun spending so much time and effort on the look of a movie without knowing what it’s going to look like on different streaming services.”
Related:
“That must be incredibly tough as a creator,” saida second, whileanother wrote, “That’s such a bummer. I can confirm it was nowhere near “comically dark” when I saw it at Alamo Drafthouse. It looked really good.”
While Dexerto described the film as a “mildly effective and slightly forgettable movie” in ourImmaculate review, we can confirm that the movie didn’t appear in theaters as it did in the above screenshots. The visuals weren’t a weak point of the film in any regard, so this seems to be a streaming issue.
Jessica Cullen is a TV and Movies Writer on Dexerto’s UK team. She’s previously written for The Digital Fix, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, Slate and more. Aside from being the residential Yellowstone expert, she also loves Westerns, ’90s action movies, and true crime. You can email her here: jessica.cullen@dexerto.com.
