WFG RATING: C-

Vertigo Releasing presents an ACG Studios/Bigscope Films/Moonriver production. Directed by Christopher Stone. Produced by Laurie Cook, Stuart Ford, Casey Herbert, Xavier Marchand, and Jason Newmark. Written by Christopher Smith and Laurie Cook. Cinematography by Rob Hart and Stuart Mone. Edited by Brian Berdan and Arthur Davis.

Stars Jena Malone, Danny Huston, Thoren Ferguson, Steffan Cennydd, Eilidh Fisher, Jolade Obasola, Charlotte Palmer, and Janet Suzman.

A woman discovers something sinister while trying to find what happened to her brother in this thriller from director Christopher Smith.

Grace is a young woman who works as a therapist. One day, she receives a call she never would expect. Her brother, a priest at the Mount Saviour Convent in Scotland, has been found dead. She heads to the Convent and meets DCI Harris, who gives her more shocking news. According to the report, her brother had killed another priest before killing himself. Grace doesn’t believe it and decides to find out what happened.

She meets Father Romero, who has been appointed to be at the convent from the Vatican. Grace learns the convent was once the home of the Knights of the Morning Star, who in the 12^th Century, sought penance after the Crusades. It is believed that the place may possibly be haunted. While digging deeper, Grace begins to have visions of her childhood along with some shocking moments that could prove the convent is haunted. Will Grace learn the truth about her brother and the secret of the convent?

To be fair, this thriller from Christopher Smith tries its best to bring things together in terms of its story. A major problem is that it can’t tell if it wants to be a horror film, a mystery film, or even a tense thriller. As we see protagonist Grace’s attempts to find out what happens to her brother, things start to go a level of boredom and just asks too many questions. It gets to a point where when finally, something happens, it just feels a bit too late and then it’s just like was it worth the wait?

That doesn’t take away the performance of Jena Malone, who does her best to make the most of what she has to work with. One of her visions is reminiscent of one of the most famous scenes from the great movie that is Midsommar but done in more CGI fashion. She does her best with the material, even when pulling off a fake British accent. As for Danny Huston, he too makes the most of his screen time as Father Romero, who is trying to “cleanse” the convent but also has questions when it comes to what happened.

Janet Suzman brings a sense of mystery as Mother Superior, who may or may not know the secret behind the convent and there are fellow nuns, including one with a bandaged eye that makes one wonder what exactly happened. By the one-hour mark of its 90-minute runtime, it finally picks up, but it just seems by this point, it’s not exactly worth the wait. But in some ways, it is, especially with the final moments which prove to be quite jaw-dropping, but not in how you would think.

It’s hard to classify Consecration as it doesn’t really feel like a horror film until the last twenty minutes. However, by then, the story just tends to mostly stall and ends up more disappointing despite its redeeming final moments.

The film will be released on Digital in the UK on June 16.