Consecration (2023) User Reviews

religion plus horror

[ferguson-6 · 6/10 · 10 February 2023]

Greetings again from the darkness. Horror films and religion are a match made in heaven ... so to speak. The linking of demonic possession and religious artifacts pre-dates cinema, and yet has long been a key element on the big screen. The effect of the cross on Dracula is one example, and of course, the priest visiting young Regan in THE EXORCIST is one for the ages. So many other examples exist that entire books have been written on the topic. It's because of this history that we quickly accept the setting and groundwork of this latest from writer-director Christopher Smith (TRIANGLE, 2009) and co-writer Laurie Cook.

Optometrist Grace (Jena Malone) lives alone with her cat when she is notified that her brother (Steffan Cennydd), a priest, is dead. Supposedly he killed a senior priest before committing suicide. Grace is immediately suspicious of the story and decides to conduct her own investigation. She travels to the convent, located on the edge of an oceanside cliff in a remote area of Scotland, where she discusses the case with Detective Harris (Thoren Ferguson). They both have serious doubts that Mother Superior's (Janet Suzman) chronicle of events is accurate.

Father Romero (Danny Huston) arrives on assignment from the Vatican in order to re-consecrate the convent, and to do so, he must ensure that the truth in the case is disclosed. Adding an element is Grace's admission to being "indifferent" towards God, which of course, makes her a target of the nuns, including a creepy "peek-a-boo" nun played by Elidih Fisher.

The initial set up with Grace and her arrival are extremely well done, and Ms. Malone proves yet again why she has long been a favorite. The good vs evil stage is set, and then filmmaker Smith begins the twists and misdirection. Flashbacks to Grace's childhood are a bit heavy-handed and used to spell out a bit too much, and some of these are simply too obvious and generate a few too many eye-rolls. Mr. Huston is always solid in whatever supporting role he plays, but fans of Jena Malone will likely be somewhat disappointed in a movie that doesn't take full advantage of her presence. Regardless of that, the Scotland countryside is shown in its full glory and that's quite a sight. Just don't expect as much from a horror movie that's just trying too hard.

In theaters beginning February 10, 2023.

Not a horror film but a decent suspense thriller.

[LordCommandar · 6/10 · 29 July 2023]

First off, shout outs to Jena Malone who looks fantastic. And now the film. This was a solid watch from start to finish that falls into the suspense religious somewhat embodiment of the supernatural. A story of journey of woman who's past, present and future all come together in real time, for the unveiling of who she has been since a child. Cast, story, the religious backdrop, all made a good bit of sense only because of what you find out in the ending part of the film. And I did like how the story did project that mother superior was the person you would have suspected for her nefarious persona only to find out just the opposite. Although the films are not similar, I could not help get the same vibe when I watched the Sixth Sense. Not a horror film but a decent suspense thriller.

A Decent Flick

[tdwillis-26273 · 6/10 · 19 April 2023]

No spoilers mentioned.

This film was a nice surprise. The camera work and cinematography was excellent. I appreciated the beautiful scenery of Scotland and the gorgeous atmospheric church.

The acting was above reproach.

The screenplay/story wasn't anything really new but the setting made it feel fresh.

There were flashbacks of 2 different time-frames, along side the Main time line that I wish would of tied into the story a lot tighter. That's a lot of history to glue together so keeping it as simple as they did was probably the best route to take. But I did notice how it diluted the story as a whole.

Overall...I enjoyed this film and would recommend it.

Misleading!

[SoumikBanerjee1996 · 5/10 · 15 March 2023]

The movie has been terribly misrepresented and misquoted as a horror while, in reality, it tends to lean more towards the genre of murder/mystery thrillers rather than a gloomy, atmospheric fear flick, contrary to what the trailers may have earlier suggested.

The creators should have been more sincere in their promotional strategies because if you are not honest about your work, the audience has a harder time deciding what to expect and what not to and that could backfire and In this case, I believe it is about to turn sour as well.

The film itself isn't half bad, and neither are the concepts it attempts to explore, but I'm worried that subverting viewers' expectations won't go down well with most of them, it didn't with me that's for certain.

The Devil's Work

[Tweetienator · 6/10 · 19 March 2023]

Consecration was a very pleasant surprise: a fine production and cast, on top some story in the line of movies a la The Exorcist or The Medusa Touch (Richard Burton, 1978) and the like. Mostly I watched this one because of Jena Malone and I was not disappointed - her fine performance gives Grace, our by mysteries and death surrounded hero, gestalt, depth. Consecration is for sure no movie for the pure gorehound or for those who want the simple pleasures of a slasher movie served, but rather for those who can enjoy a slowly unfolding plot sugared by some dark atmosphere and fine settings. No doubt, this one is no masterpiece but an entertaining snack for the connoisseurs of previously mentioned movies.

A Retread of Spooky Catholic Themes Without Insight or Originality

[FilmFanatic2023 · 3/10 · 11 February 2023]

A horror film directed by Christopher Smith, but fails to live up to its promising opening sequence. The film revolves around Grace (played by Jena Malone) who travels to the Mount Saviour Convent in Scotland after learning of her priest brother's death. The rest of the film lacks invigoration and simply recycles spooky Catholic horror themes without adding any originality to the subgenre.

The supporting characters are not given much depth and the various plot threads are not woven together effectively, leaving the story muddled. The imagery and cinematography of the film is also lazy and uninspired. The film's preposterous ending does not provide any resolution to Grace's journey or explore the tension between devotion and hysteria in the Church. Overall, "Consecration" fails to deliver on both a horror and spiritual level.

Enjoyable

[Mehki_Girl · 7/10 · 10 February 2023]

Just saw this movie. I'm an atheist but still like religious horror films.

We see a movie every week and sometimes we're left with nothing but clunkers. I know this probably wasn't top notch, because how many possession or good versus evil, demon films have there been?

The previews looked good and why the hell not? We were the only ones in the theater on a Friday afternoon.

Although hubby dozed a time or two, he was interested. He uses captioning and the machines weren't available and I had to interpret the scenes, but still he hung in there.

I really liked this film, if only for the fact that it was different. There's a twist that at one point you surmized is coming, but still I found myself surprised.

I had no problem following the story and I say that because some critics felt it was muddled and had two narratives going. Everything becomes clear in the end.

The cinematography and setting feels authentic and looks good. There is blood and gore but not and Indy abundance, but this is not for the comic book, shoot them up crowd, car crashes and explosion crowd. It's s but of a slow burn.

Bottomline, it held my attention and i liked it.

Ending was confusing

[ashfordofficial · 5/10 · 15 March 2023]

I'm always attracted to these Christian horror movies and I love the feeling they gave me. This film was one of the decent ones in that category. Eerie, atmospheric locations, cool concept, impressive direction, dialogues and a stellar cast with stellar performance. But the ending was confusing, rushed and had no satisfying conclusion.

I'm always attracted to these Christian horror movies and I love the feeling they gave me. This film was one of the decent ones in that category. Eerie, atmospheric locations, cool concept, impressive direction, dialogues and a stellar cast with stellar performance. But the ending was confusing, rushed and had no satisfying conclusion.

The twist at the end is solid and makes the film worth a watch.

[kevin_robbins · 6/10 · 31 May 2023]

Consecration (2023) is a new movie recently added to Shudder. The storyline follows a young lady whose brother recently died while serving as a priest in a remote church in Scotland. The story of his death seems odd so she sets out with a priest from the Vatican to the church to see if she can uncover what happened. She discovers some strange practices and behaviors by the church. She also starts seeing things from her past buried deep inside her.

This movie is directed by Christopher Smith (Triangle) and stars Jena Malone (The Neon Demon), Danny Huston (The Aviator), Ian Pirie (The Last Duel), Janet Suzman (Anthony and Cleopatra) and Thoren Ferguson (Matriarch).

The settings, attire, look and feel of the movie was perfect for the storyline. The storyline was interesting and I liked the set up for the climatic ending. I was surprised the plot kept my attention despite being a bit cliche. The writing and acting was inconsistent with some scenes being better than others; however, the last 30 minutes are solid. The horror elements all come at once in a big ending reveal, but they are fairly entertaining. The twist at the end is solid and makes the film worth a watch.

Overall, this is an entertaining addition to the horror genre that I would score a 5.5-6/10 and recommend seeing once.

Essentially just another religiously-themed run-of-the-mill movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 4 June 2023]

I had not heard about this 2023 thriller titled "Consecration" prior to sitting down to watch it. And truth be told, I wasn't really harboring much of any grand expectations, as the vast majority of religiously-themed horror and thriller movies tend to be tedious and questionable at best.

Yet, I opted to sit down and watch "Consecration" on account of never having seen it before.

Writers Christopher Smith and Laurie Cook put together a script that was sort of suitable for a single viewing. I mean, I managed to sit through it, though I was only mildly entertained. The narrative was a bit too mundane and slow paced for my liking. And there wasn't really much excitement throughout the course of the 91 minutes that the movie ran for. You could say, in lack of a better term, that the movie was generic.

I was only familiar with actor Danny Huston on the cast list here, and he did add his usual charm to the movie. It should be noted, however, that the acting performances in "Consecration" were actually fair enough, especially when taking into consideration the limitations of the script.

For a thriller or horror movie then "Consecration" was a walk in the park. There was nothing scary or remotely disturbing here, aside from how linear and predictable the movie was.

Suitable for a single viewing, if you have nothing better on the to-watch-list. But this is not a movie that can sustain more than a single viewing.

My rating of director Christopher Smith's "Consecration" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Not scary, but spooky and well-written. I liked it!

[poolchlorine · 8/10 · 13 February 2023]

This is marketed as a horror movie, but I think it's more of a lean, tightly written mystery with horrific elements. The clues are so densely packed I couldn't leave to get a soda refill, for fear of missing some key point in the story.

Jena Malone is great as always, though her accent is a bit shaky in places. Janet Suzman is a standout as Mother Superior, as is Ian Pirie, who is genuinely frightening as Jena's dad.

Scenes jump back and forth in time and from dreams to reality in a disorienting fashion, but the final resolution ties up all...and I do mean ALL the loose ends in a way I found very satisfying.

Other reviews have commented that too much of the mystery is given away early. I disagree. I could see the general direction it was going but was still surprised at the reveal.

Smarter than the typical jump-scare movie that gets released every week, it will keep your interest and make you think. Just don't expect it to make you jump out of your seat.

Recommended.

A visual delight of tension.

[jp_91 · 7/10 · 3 August 2023]

"Consecration" is a movie that has been promoted as a horror movie, it has nods to the aforementioned genre but it is more correct to describe it as a religious thriller. The script is good, it is well structured and the final surprise is quite nice, halfway through the film the story slows down but not bad, to finally have a very imaginative ending. One of its greatest attractions is the cinematography that together with the filming locations achieve a beautiful but tense atmosphere. Jena Malone's performance is well accomplished, demonstrating her histrionic capacity. A good film that deserves more attention and to discover its positive points, which are many.

Quite a chore to get though

[stevelivesey-37183 · 3/10 · 29 May 2023]

Nothing particularly new here and what is here is badly put together.

I found it quite a chore to get though and with a 90 minute runtime, that's not good. I think there is a decent scary movie to be made with this subject matter and this cast but the direction is ham fisted and, crucially, in a horror film, the sound is too ordinary.

Are there any good parts to the movie? If pushed, I would say the that Jena Malone is ok, Janet Suzman is fantastic and weirdly Danny Huston seems to phone it in, very unlike him.

Possibly the problem is budget, writing, deadlines or talent. Or maybe a combination of all of them. There are plenty of other movies in this genre to watch, start with the Exorcist and work you way down.

Even a miracle couldn't save this movie !

[honeybloggs-69648 · 1/10 · 9 March 2023]

It didn't start of well . So I knew within the first five minutes it was going to be a rubbish film . However, I was hoping , even praying I was wrong and it would get better . To no avail , it became worse .

There was no spooky or even eerie atmosphere . In fact there was no atmosphere at all, it was flat! . The acting was pretty awful . The actress who played Grace sounded as though she was continuously auditioning for a role in the theatre production . It's okay love you don't have to impress anyone , you've got the lead in a B rated film ( Actually it was Z rated film , I was being kind ) The priest and the mother superior were hysterical ! Their acting was really OTT ! . Then you had the dark and mysterious Nigerian nun ( who was probably from Peckham ! ) And we saw a nun who had a bandage over her eye! Spooky! Not ! Every time Grace entered a room the nuns ran out screaming ! Nice!

The plot was unique as there wasn't one! This movie was just one big jumbled mess. It couldn't decide what it was or which direction it should go . We learn Grace is good . Then we learn she's bad . The priest wants to stick Grace in a vault but Grace won't have it and walks out of it . We suddenly see two Graces , one who walks out of the vault and one who stabs priest with a cross! Ouch! The Mother Superior says Grace can't die but in one of the final scenes , she tries to kill Grace her with a gun! Whilst trying to shoot Grace , The Mother Superior gets run over by a truck , so Grace must be bad . Lol! Grace is an ophthalmologist and restores people's sight . We see in the final scene that Grace touches an elderly patients eyes who is blinds and restores her eyesight. So the woman can see! I knew Grace was a goodie. Yup she's definitely not the Devil and is just defending herself from all the Crazies trying to kill her.

Nasty Nuns!

[Pairic · 7/10 · 10 May 2023]

Consecration: The opening scene features a nun with a big gun. Then we have a flashback to the recent past, Grace (Jena Malone) learns that her brother committed suicide and has murdered a fellow priest. Not believing that her brother would have done this she makes her way to Scotland and visits an isolated Convent run by an strict and odd order of nuns. After a series of faints she ends up first in hospital and then in the Convent itself after being pulled from the sea. She also experiences visions of the past, Medieval Knights disrupting pagan ceremonies, also of nuns committing suicide. All of the nuns are odd, the sanest one has just plucked out one of her eyes as she had seen the Devil. The Mother Superior (Janet Suzman) believes in One God and His Shadow (Satan) a Dualistic view which is shared by the other sisters and by Father Romero (Danny Huston) who is sent by the Vatican to investigate the deaths. There are many twists and turns in this narrative with flashbacks to Grace's youth and the search for a lost relic. A Templar like Order of Knights are also involved. Are we witnessing Angelic or Demonic powers at work? Naturally there are some gory scenes and further killings. A bit of a slow burner but a mystery/horror film which is well worth watching. Directed by Christopher Smith from a script he co-wrote with Laurie Cook, 7/10.

Messy timeline

[amandamunozdav · 4/10 · 19 May 2023]

Opening with a voiceover of Jena Malone's character Grace Consecration tries to explore the consequences of childhood trauma and a spiritual crisis. After her brother's suicide Grace is forced to confront not only her troubled past but the dark force that took her brother away. With a running time of 90 minutes the film never gets to a clear point becoming another messy religious horror story. Everything is left at a surface level leaving the viewer as confused as if you were asked to explain the movie without having seen it first.

The poorly written script brings a confusing timeline and narrative taking away any chance of the cast of giving a good performance. Malone's character never gets to be clear with her emotions and motivations. Is she grieving her brother and wants to know the truth? She's looking for a spiritual awakening? Both? We will never really know.

The remaining characters doesn't add to the story only the nuns being creepy from time to time. On the bright side, this film has a good cinematography and locations that can become the only reason why you finished the film waiting for an improvement from the story.

At the end, Consecration turned out to be what is expected from this films; another generic horror movie with religious subjects. Consecration is now available on Shudder.

Priesthood

[nielsen_nielsen_us · 6/10 · 24 February 2023]

To do good without God's permission or authority is akin to doing evil. While it is not in itself evil to do good, God is indifferent at best towards any good done that is not done in His name or under His authority. God has a monopoly on recognizable good. All good done without Priesthood is competition against God.

This is a tenet of most religion and it's called Priesthood. Government is also a type of religion as the police are the only ones authorized to do good (defend themselves and others) or to commission others to do good (act contingent upon their authority). The nuns see the girl as evil despite the girl using her power only to do good. But the good she does is not in the name of God or by His authority. Therefore, it is not recognized as good, but as trespass upon God's monopoly on good.

When was horror this boring?

[Dodge-Zombie · 1/10 · 20 March 2023]

I'm not gonna lie as soon as I saw Shudder in the credits I instantly felt this was going to be rubbish. I have yet to see a Shudder movie that I'd rate above a 3 so I knew it wasn't looking good.

To be honest I onlt decided to watch this movie for Jena Malone but her acting is so wooden in this I'm not sure I'd watch a movie she's the main star of again.

The short version is that the script is awful, the acting terrible, the direction questionable and apart from a few nice camera shots there really is nothing worth seeing here.

Too many people think making a movie about religion instantly makes it not have to make sense. This movie is guilty of that.

Dismissed.

Very well done film

[tikitim-47092 · 7/10 · 10 June 2023]

I actually had very low expectations going into this but the trailer looked decent so I gave it a shot. I was pleasantly surprised! I always love religious horror movies and this did not disappoint. It was very well acted, atmospheric with great production values and it definitely had a twist that I did not see coming. For that alone I think it is worth seeing. It also had great scenery taking place in Scotland. I wouldn't say it is scary but definitely is on the creepy side. I recently saw a film that reminded me of this a little bit at least called Hell Hole. In fact there was a scene towards the end that reminded me of a scene in that movie. I enjoyed that one as well. I would recommend if you like these types of films.

Boring

[cammic · 4/10 · 14 March 2023]

I was looking forward to watching this movie and being scared out of my wits.... I wasn't!

It could have been so much better but it was all a big "seen it all before". Nuns, creepy convent, cliff edge... all been done before.

It was a bit of a weird story and it didn't make much sense at all.

I pretty much predicted the ending from about 10 minutes in and I was right.

If you are going to make a movie like this.....you need to turn up the scare factor to 10 so you are jumping out of your seat and watching it with all the lights on.

The actors were all very ordinary and the Mother Superior was not believable or scary.

Give this one a miss.

Satisfying Horror

[vanvance · 8/10 · 25 March 2023]

I'm writing this review because those I've recently seen (e.g. On the Roger Ebert site), clearly didn't understand what they were watching and what the actual story was. They WANTED a character drama in the cliched sense, when what they got was a mystic mystery of sorts. If you're patient and attentive, you'll understand it all comes together at the end. This is not one of Smith's best, but it's definitely good. It's also completely devoid of sickening Hollywood trends that have made so much of entertainment into an excuse to bash the viewer in the face with ideology.

Consecration is recommended for serious horror fans.

Another Good Thriller from Christopher Smith...

[shaikhirshad-41223 · 7/10 · 18 February 2024]

First of all do not go for the bad reviews watch it for yourself and then decide because this is good.

If you have watched Christopher Smith previous work then you'll know he doesn't give you story that simple until it has to be a mystery thriller.

A basic storyline of good vs evil but the way director has portrayed it is brilliantly well. I quite like the presentation and the visuals that he show that plays with the time and your mind is superbly engaging and keep you hooked till the end of the film.

Climax is surprising because you can't predict and that's a good thing about the movie specially the last reveal was good and unique.

Direction, screenplay is very engaging and it'll not disappoint you nor will bore you throughout the film. It's not a complete horror but yes at some scenes you'll feel the essence of it.

Performance is the main highlight for me specially JENA MALONE carries the film from start to end with her intense performance and brilliant screen presence. I haven't watch her much films but after this I'll definitely check it out.

Whereas rest of the cast doesn't have much to do but they did a suitable job.

Overall a fast pacing engaging horror thriller which will disappoint in story but presentation of the film is a worth watch...

Could This Have Been Worse?

[arfdawg-1 · 1/10 · 29 May 2023]

Holy cow, this movie is a complete and totally unhinged, indecipherable, mess.

The writing and directing is unquestionably the worst to come down the pike in 30 years. There is no argung this simple fact of life. I dare you to make any sense out of this cauldron of crapola.

While the beginning is somewht interesting, despite being ridiculously slow, it soon descends into a murky mess that it cannot come out of.

What makes it worse is it never ends! There are like three or four endings. They just keep coming and each is more confusing than the last.

Thankfully this movie is so bad it could not have made enough money to garner a sequel.

Thanks to God on high.

Holy Crap

[Reviewenstein · 1/10 · 2 August 2023]

The worst thing about this movie is how clever it thinks it is, despite having one of the most catastrophically stupid screenplays I've ever seen. This thing - beautifully shot and well acted though it is - has the depth of piece of paper. Blank paper. Blank paper that works in advertising and spends a lot of time on TikTok. You know those ideas you have at 4am that seem amazing but when you wake up in the morning you see all the glaring flaws? This movie makes those ideas feel better about themselves. Oh, and there's subtext, which I honestly hope I've misinterpreted because at least then the movie would just be dumb rather than dumb and misguidedly self-righteous.

Hard to rate this

[harineem-209-525488 · 6/10 · 14 January 2024]

Its a bit difficult for me to rate this because of the Christian elements which I clearly don't get, as a non-Christian and not knowing the history of European christianity.

The movie is a bit slow, the lead character Grace is just wandering the abbey for 50 mins of the movie. She has come here after she is informed about her brother's suicide.

We get to know of her traumatic childhood of a half-crazed father abusing her and rest of the family, in the end stabbing her mother.

Then we have these shots of medieval age where some knights are the visiting this abbey.

The last 30 mins ,where some action happens, left with me lot of questions. Maybe someone who knows Christian theology may have understood what the hell is happening.

The odd part is that the movie doesn't take a stand on who is the bad person here, the church or Grace which makes me give them some points.