A hearing-impaired girl is visited by the Virgin Mary and can suddenly hear, speak, and heal the sick. As people flock to witness her miracles, terrifying events unfold. Are they the work of the Virgin Mary or something much more sinister?
A young hearing-impaired girl named Alice (Cricket Brown) lives with her uncle, Father William Hagan (William Sadler), a Catholic priest, in a small New England town. After disgraced journalist Gerry Fenn (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) almost hits Alice with his car late one night on a deserted country road, he swerves into a tree and comes to a stop. He gets out of the car and follows her to a field where she kneels in front of a large, uncultivated tree. As he nears her, he can hear her speaking, and then she collapses. He takes her to a nearby church where her uncle William resides and lets him in.
The town doctor, Natalie Gates (Katie Aselton), is called to check on her and she reassures William that she is fine. When Gerry informs her that he heard her talking to the tree, she refuses to believe him as she has never spoken a word in her life but the next day during Sunday service, which both Gerry and Natalie are attending, Alice stands up and makes her way outside, followed by everyone in the church. She makes her way directly to the tree and begins talking, much to everybody’s shock and dismay.
She informs everyone that the Virgin Mary has spoken to her and as a result, has cured her. The town residents begin to frequent the church every day where Alice proceeds to heal people, all in the name of the Virgin Mary. Initially skeptical, Gerry decides to stick around as he feels there might be a good story forthcoming but he and Alice unexpectedly form a bond and he becomes protective of her. Soon, the world’s press descends on the town and the Catholic Church, in light of Alice’s healing abilities, bestows the title of shrine on the town, specifically the tree where Alice speaks daily with the Virgin Mary.
Soon thereafter, Alice’s uncle William dies mysteriously and Gerry begins to investigate, along with Natalie, and much to their horror, they discover in 1845, a young woman named Mary Elnor sold her soul to Satan in order to gain eternal life and power but was captured by the townsfolk and hung and burned alive from the tree outside the church. With a large service to be held in the church later that very evening, which will also be broadcast around the world, Gerry ascertains that because Alice believes she is speaking to the Virgin Mary, anybody who pledges their allegiance to her will automatically condemn their soul to hell. As they try to get to the church in time to warn Alice, they are slowed down by a supernatural presence, one that is hellbent on completely destroying them.
While “The Unholy” has a novel approach to its story, it falls short because of its depiction of Mary. Her appearance, shrouded in darkness, her face covered under a hooded cloak, is unmistakably CGI, and it is absolutely atrocious. In one scene, Gerry is having a nightmare, and Mary emerges from a body of water, looks over at him, and quickly lunges at him and it feels like the production skimped on quality and instead, resorted to embarrassing second-rate special effects. It reminded me of the horrendous CGI utilized in the finale of “The Mummy Returns,” a film that cost well over $100 million to produce so they had no excuse but here, as small as their budget obviously was, a combination of CGI and practical effects would have sufficed.
And seeing that Sam Raimi, director of “The Evil Dead,” “Evil Dead II,” and “Drag Me to Hell” was a producer, he is also a master of intertwining the aforementioned visual effects so his input should have been forthcoming, instead of allowing the movie to proceed with humiliating results. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is the film’s saving grace, he injects sincerity, empathy, and fervor when needed, and watching his contemptible, downtrodden Gerry slowly redeem himself through his genuine affection for Alice, is worth the price of admission alone. “The Unholy” sets out to scare its audience but instead, winds up vanquishing itself.
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