"St. Agatha" takes place in 1957. A young pregnant woman named, appropriately, Mary (Sabrina Kern) is transported to a home for unwed mothers, run by nuns, and hidden in a misty forest. There are ominous clues all around Mary on her initial approach, like a huge bear trap, spiked jaws open, in the middle of the path. She steps around it gingerly. The convent is a dilapidated white building, clapboard walls and rickety cupola on top, a grey statue brooding in front. Once inside, she is greeted by Paula (Trin Miller), a solemn woman with a scar across her face, who takes her to the Mother Superior (Carolyn Hennesy), whose silky voice, dyed red hair peeking out from under her wimple, and seething subtext of sexuality and control makes an alarming impression. She confides in Mary that "Rome" cut off the convent's funding since they didn't "approve" of her methods. Flee, Mary, flee!
From moment one, things are strange. Scratching sounds come from the upper floor, as though someone is trapped up there. The girls are not allowed to talk to each other. They live in terror of Mother Superior (who can blame them?) Scary things are seen through slats in the wall, underneath doors. When the girls "misbehave", Mother Superior's punishment is vicious. One girl is made to eat her own vomit. The girls are all drugged. Some of them disappear from the dormitory at night, never to be seen again.
Bousman made his name with the "Saw" series, and knows his way around horror and gore. There are elements in "St. Agatha"—particularly the opening—which are imitative of Zack Snyder's "Sucker Punch," but without the its propulsive, manipulative force. Slow-paced at first, with flashbacks showing Mary's life before, her drunk dad, her grifter boyfriend (Justin Miles), "St. Agatha" includes scene after scene of Mother Superior's torture techniques. The repetition gives the film a deadened quality. But in the second half (almost too late), when Mary devises a plan to break out, the film finds its sea legs, and the terror, torture and desperation builds its own crazy momentum. When black-habited nuns stand guard holding sniper rifles, ready to kill anyone who tries to leave, you know you're through the looking glass.
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