A horror story follows Father Thomas Riley and Father John Thornton who were sent by the Vatican to investigate a miraculous event in an Irish home for 'fallen women'. By reaching there, they start their investigation but the surprise is when they uncover something much more horrific.
All the well-crafted effort has unfortunately been expended on a tired and overly familiar story that never registers as anything more than a compendium of horror film clichés.
The film isn't without its effective scares, and long-time fans of the found footage genre will find something to enjoy in the film, even if the only fresh aspect of the film is its cinematography.
[S]pooky as hell, with some biting commentary on the history of the Catholic Church and a setting that grows increasingly claustrophobic and menacing as the narrative deepens.
Two strong leads, the doubting priest Lalor Roddy and the Nurse Ratchet-like Mother Superior played with gusto by Helena Bereen, help distinguish this Exorcist update and mark Clarke as a talent to watch.
The ambiguity of the title is as important as the ambiguity of the ending -- and always, underscoring it, the understanding that there was nothing ambiguous about what was found beneath the ground in Tuam.
