''Agnes'' is a 2021 American horror drama film directed by Mickey Reece and starring

Hayley McFarland Hayley McFarland (born March 29, 1991) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Emily Lightman in the Fox crime drama series ''Lie to Me''. In the supernatural horror film ''The Conjuring'', McFarland portrayed Nancy Perron. Ear ...

as the titular character.

Premise

Rumors of demonic possession at a religious convent prompts a church investigation into the strange goings-on among its nuns. A disaffected priest and his neophyte are confronted with temptation, bloodshed and a crisis of faith.

Cast

Molly Quinn Molly Caitlyn Quinn is an American actress who has worked in theatre, film, and television. Her roles include Alexis Castle, daughter of the title character on ABC's ''Castle'', and the voice of Bloom, one of the main characters in the Nickelodeo ...

as Mary *

as Agnes *

Sean Gunn Sean Gunn (born May 22, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Kirk Gleason on The WB series ''Gilmore Girls'' (2000–2007), and Kraglin Obfonteri in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this role, he has been in the films ''Gua ...

as Paul Satchimo *

Rachel True Rachel India True (born November 15, 1966) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in such films as '' The Craft'' (1996), '' Nowhere'' (1997), and ''Half Baked'' (1998). True is also known for her role as Mona Thorne on the UPN ...

as Sister Ruth * Chris Sullivan as Curly *Jake Horowitz as Hola *

Chris Browning Christopher Jay Browning (born March 8, 1964) is an American television and film actor, known for film work and character roles. Career Browning began his acting career in 1987, at age 22 or 23, with a sitcom television series. Due to his drug ...

as Father Black *Ben Hall as Father Donaghue *Ginger Gilmartin as Wanda *Mary Buss as Mother Superior

Production

Filming occurred in Oklahoma and wrapped in February 2020.

Release

The film premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

on June 12, 2021. In September 2021, it was announced that

Magnet Releasing Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Mag ...

acquired North American distribution rights to the film, which was released theatrically and on demand on December 10, 2021.

Reception

Box office

In its opening weekend, ''Agnes'' earned $1,433 from five theaters. The film made $96 in its sophomore weekend from three theaters.

Critical response

Katie Rife of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' wrote: “…those looking for straightforward supernatural chills would be better off watching whatever turns up when they search “exorcism” on Netflix… If, on the other other (sic), you’re tired of seeing the same old beats hit again and again in these kind of movies, ''Agnes'' provides idiosyncratic salvation." Shelagh Rowan-Legg of

Screen Anarchy Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

also gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Discordant and fascinating, bizarre and deeply affecting, ''Agnes'' marks an intriguing and strong step in Reece's filmography." Scott Weinberg of

Thrillist Thrillist is an online media website covering food, drink, travel and entertainment. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in New York City, United States. In October 2016, Thrillist merged with internet brands '' The Dodo'', NowThis News ...

ranked the film #32 of the 40 best horror films of 2021 and wrote, "The film starts out as a somewhat traditional "possessed nun" story, but about halfway through it makes a sharp left turn and becomes a compelling character study about how an innocent young woman must contend with a trauma she can't explain." Lorry Kikta of ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...

'' rated the film an 8 out of 10 and wrote, "I can only hope that as Reece’s career progresses, he gets bigger budgets and better resources. His vision is certainly deserving of that, and this is just more proof of his talents." Jeannette White of

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Overall, it holds a lot of unfulfilled potential that could have benefited from a concrete theme."

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, agnes_2021 2021 films 2021 drama films 2021 horror films 2020s horror drama films American horror drama films Nunsploitation films Religious horror films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films