St. Agatha (2018)

(In French, On Cable TV, November 2022) You can give a chance to St. Agatha on the sole basis that it’s helmed by Darren Lynn Bousman, a well-known director specializing in horror films. But for each Saw sequel in Bousman’s filmography, there’s another film of variable quality. He clearly knows what he’s doing from a directorial standpoint—even with a low budget, St. Agatha is handsomely packaged. Alas, Bousman works with the scripts he gets, and they’re not born equal. In this case, we’re in a 1950s convent where very strange things are afoot, especially as wayward young women in a family way are brought for assistance… and more. While the Catholic imagery is used to good spooky effect, the overall impact of the entire film is far less than exceptional: the “plot twists” aren’t surprising, the overall tone is far less fun than you’d expect, and the small scale of the horror isn’t counterbalanced by an exceptional execution. The slow burn of the film’s pacing doesn’t help, and neither does a decidedly restrained conclusion. At times, St. Agatha doesn’t do much to justify its own existence—it’s not clear why we should care, exactly, about anyone in the film or why it exists. It’s visually better than most of the dreck you’ll find in low-budget horror, sure, but that’s not saying all that much.