Consecration 2023 Movie Spoilers | Ending Explained | Review Recap
Today I am going to recap the recently released religious horror movie called consecration. In the beginning, we see a lady by the name of Grace walking down the park. She was stopped by a nun called mother superior who points a gun at her. Here we hear a monologue of Grace in which she says my brother used to believe that I had a guardian Angel. but I believe in nothing. Grace was an optometrist working in London. She had a severe case of diabetic retinopathy in front of her that needed immediate treatment. Grace recommends her friend Dr. John who was considered the best in this field. What he had accomplished was nothing sort of miracle. Grace asked his friend doctor John to take this case and the good doctor accepted wholeheartedly. Grace emailed this news to that old couple and started playing with her cat.
Suddenly the lights in her house were gone and she heard some noise. As she started looking she saw a blood mark on her and her brother's photo. She saw a reflection of a lady in her mirror. Even though nobody was there in the house yet the reflection was there.
Just then Grace gets a call from one detective chief inspector Harris who informs her about a dreadful situation. Apparently, grace's brother Michael was dead in a murder-suicide situation and he was investigating it. Harris was calling from Scotland where Michael's body was found. Michael was a priest researching something at the ancient Mount Saviour convent. Grace travels to Scotland, Harris explains to her that Michael's body was found beneath the old church. It seemed he jumped from the top. Father Carol was visiting Mount Saviour from the Vatican. The working assumption is that Michael had some argument with him, he killed him in cold blood, and then jumped to death.
Here Harris was surprised how an outsider joined such an extreme religious group. He said the convent believes in extreme teachings of the bible where just recently one nun pulled out her eye blaming it on the devil. Grace had no idea about this as she was kind of away from him for many years. But she loved him all right. Grace says my brother was devout, not crazy, as for as me I have no interest in religion. Harris took Grace to the convent.
The One-eyed nun told Mother Superior about Grace and Harris. The Motto of this convent was, There is one but God and his shadow. These guys were devoted to this motto like soldiers on a battlefield. Mother Superior greats Grace by saying your brother was devout. The darkness possessed him and made him commit sins. Harris took Grace to the crime scene, the top of a church from where Michael jumped. Technically speaking this whole convent area comes under the jurisdiction of the Vatican state as they own this place. They are also sending an investigator to cooperate in this double death.
Grace saw Michael's body in the morgue, she was overwhelmed with emotion. As she started closely observing Michael's body she saw his ghost back in the mirror. He offered his hand and said hurry, it's not safe here. With this Grace got a flashback where she and Michael were stuck in a storm. Michael was helping him. Back then he said the same thing which he said just now. Some supernatural thing is definitely going n with grace.
Next, we see Grace in a hospital. She had passed out due to stress. Father Romero, the investigator from the Vatican explains this to Grace. He asks about grace's family to which she says there are none. My adoptive father is in jail for killing my adoptive mother, my adoptive brother is dead, hence there is no one. Grace seemed unsettled here as on Micheal's body or in his hair, there was no sand. If he had fallen on the beach there must be a residue. She was suspecting foul play. Father Romero promised her a full and fair investigation. As Father left Grace had another vision. In this she saw a child with a mask on, few of her friends surrounded her.
The era seemed medieval, some Knight riders were chasing this child. After getting up Grace decides to take the matter into her own hand. She sneaks from the hospital to the other side of the beach in a car to see the place where Micheal's body was found. Since this whole area was remote car driver promised her that he will come back for her. Here Grace got a few more visions where she saw nuns jumping from the top voluntarily as penance. This spooked Grace, in shock she passed out and fell into the ocean. After some time the car driver saved her and next we see her in the convent in a nun's dress. Grace was pissed off as she was getting no answers. She had her superior on about Mother Superior as her behavior was oddly vague.
Father Romero took Grace to the top of the church and showed her the confessional spot. In medieval times, this convent was on the pilgrimage route for the knights of the morning star. They were guarding relics and artifacts. They believed the relics had certain dark influences which needed to be tamed. They used to confess here. For every sin they did they took a step back, more sins they did more steps back. Few jumped off the coast hoping God will catch them and forgive them. Father Romero confessed his sins and took two steps back. He continued saying that Mother Superior had confessed to cleaning Michael's body before she handed it over to the police. She claimed she did that only out of respect for Micheal. Inspector Harris will interrogate her tomorrow for this.
Later Father Romero gave Grace a box belonging to Michael. It had a diary written in the semiotic language. Grace could read this as it was she who taught Michael this language. By reading this she had another flashback. She and Micheal were living with their adoptive parents, the O'rourke family. Mr. O'rourke was a fisherman with a shoreside house. He was stuck in a storm and died, a police officer had just arrived to inform this race's mom. Grace being a child was horrified hearing this, like other children preyed on God for the return of her dad. After a few minutes miraculously her dad stood right behind her. He seemed angry for being here. Back in the room, Grace saw a nun in a mirror, she opened her door and moved out. In reality, there was none. Grace was all confused by this, she thought she is losing her mind.
We see Father Romero, Mother Superior, and nuns arguing about Grace. Mother Superior wanted to capture her as she thought she is evil. She believed Grace had a demon that killed Father Carol and possessed Michael. Father Romero was displeased, he said he will handle it. Just then all the candles in the church were blown away symbolizing something is not right. Father Romero was also hiding something. Later Grace saw a sister beth running away in panic, she followed her to a place where she cut herself as penance. Just then Sister Beth appeared behind her, she was perfectly all right. It was all Grace's vision. Grace called her friend Jhon and explained her situation. She thought she is hallucinating due to grief. Mother Superior said those are not your vision but your memories from the past and future. By this time Grace was not ready to listen to this lady.
The next day inspector Harris started interrogating Mother Superior. Mother Superior confessed to shifting her body from beach flour to convent. She definitely took others' help and her story was opaque yet she justified it with the Christian act. As Grace read Michael's diary, she got more flashbacks. Grace's dad was never the same after a stormy night, he believed he had died yet somehow brought back to life. He blamed Grace as the devil, he kept her and Michael in a cage and tried crude exorcism. Grace's mother tried stopping this mad man but Mr. O'rourke had lost his mind, he killed Grace's mom. As he tried to kill Grace something attacked him and knocked him out. Later police arrested him.
Father Romero was preparing for Consecration. Grace told him what she read from the dairy. After their mom's death, this convent tried to adopt them. We see a flashback with a young mother superior and a priest. In the car, on the way to the convent, the priest forcefully dropped Michael onto the road and tried sedating Grace with chloroform. He was uttering the motto of the convent when suddenly the car was met with an accident. The priest died on spot but Grace survived. This was the news to Father Romero he believed Michael was here to find out about the missing relic. From the 12th century, this convent was housing a relic believed to be the force of darkness. But during an earthquake in 1993, a part of a convent cliff subsided and the ocean claimed the crypt in which it was kept. Father Romero was frankly happy that it was gone, he never like crusaders and their history as it has given the church a bad reputation. He offers books to Grace on the history of that relic and its relations with the crusaders. As Grace was reading it, one nun gave her a book written centuries ago in the same cryptic language which she taught Michael. This was creepily odd. Grace's confusion grew even further, she got another vision in which the crusaders had captured a child. They were bringing her to the convent by saying the child is the source of darkness.
From all this Grace had an intuition, she walked right down to the basement. As she touched the flour she got another vision. Father Carol was torching Michael. They wanted the relic back but Michael doesn't know where it was. He too was searching for it. But Mother Superior was convinced that he was lying hence she ordered nuns to throw him from the top. As they tried Micheal involuntarily grabbed Father Carol's rod and poked him with it. Father died on spot. Grace was horrified by this image. Before she could process any of this another nun was in front of her with a knife ready to cut her in half. The nun was convinced or say brainwashed about Grace being evil. she took it upon herself to end it once and for all. As she moved forward, she lost her control. She stabbed herself instead of Grace and died on spot. Grace was speechless, clearly, she wished to run away from this place as far as possible like Usain bolt but sadly ended up in front of inspector Harris. Harris couldn't believe Grace's story even though Grace told him about the relic, mother superior. After a day in jail, he released Grace on Father Romero's bail plea citing the stabbed nun was indeed stabbed herself. He even produced a witness even though there was none. Harris was happy to let Grace go as he totally believed in crazy nuns stabbing themself. Because he has seen the one-eyed nun.
Grace goes directly to jail to meet her dad. He was angry at seeing her, he still believed he is dead and it is Grace who brought him back from death. He too believed Grace was Evil. He found her when she was ten years old wandering along the beach being wet and weak. He thought someone threw her into the ocean. He was furious hearing Michael's death, he blamed this too on Grace. He violently started banging on the glass door believing Grace to be evil.
At the station, Mother Superior told inspector Haris that Grace is the relic. Michael knew it but he didn't get the darkness in her. He refused to help and hence paid the price. Grace rushed back to the convent where she wanted to meet Father Romero, who was conducting some sort of cleaning rituals for nuns. As Grace started talking to sister Meg, the one-eyed nun tried to attack Grace from behind.
Soon she too got possessed and broke her arm herself. sister meg was horrified seeing this she ran screaming from there. Grace remembered this episode from one of her earlier visions where sister meg had cut herself. As grace reached the spot to prevent it, it was too late. Sister Meg had already shivered her hand as a penance. Grace tried to help her but it was too late, she dies in her arms. Finally, Grace saw herself in the mirror and understood it was her all along. She finally believed something is wrong with her. Maybe her dad was right.
She finally entered the church to confess her sins. Father Romero and the rest of the nuns carried her on their shoulders to the Consecration chamber. Grace asked for forgiveness and accepted her sins. Father Romero asked her to enter the crypt so that he can consecrate her. As she entered the chambers, she got more flashbacks. She was the child the crusaders captured.
They kept her locked in the crypt with biblical words which prevented her from aging. she survived nearly 800 years without food and water. She got out during the earthquake and Mr. O'rourke found her on the beach. The church's attempt to capture her failed many times. Grace was protected by a guardian angel As the nuns were closing the crypt a cross fell on Father Romero's head, and Grace came out. She asked father Romeo was this your plan all along? what happened to forgiveness? To which Father said rather cleverly, Christ died for the sins of man, not of the fallen angel. you are evil, darkness in you made you estranged from your brother. You must ask forgiveness from him. Grace ran quickly towards the top where inspector Harris also arrived sensing danger to Grace. Grace like crusaders started taking steps back to repent her sins. Harris tried preventing her by saying it was not real. It's all their hocus-pocus but Grace was convinced. She jumped from the top.
While in the air she got more visions. She was her guardian angel, somehow she had become one. It was she who put a blood mark on Micheal and her image back at the apartment. She was there. It was she who knocked out Mr. O'Rourke after he murdered his wife. It was she who save Michael after he was abandoned on road and she caused the car accident. She killed the nun and broke the arm of another. Before Michael died she tried to protect him but Michael refused her help. He killed Father Carol, it was a sin. He needed to repent it, he willingly jumped from the top. he thanked Grace for all the help in all those years.
The next day Harris searched for Grace's body but he never found one. He released Mother Superior on lack of evidence though she insisted that Grace is still alive and needed it to be stopped. We see Grace and Jhon together enjoying a drink. Grace was alive, she was taking therapy. Jhon said a peculiar thing about her patient the same old lady.
By the time he saw her, she had perfect eyesight, it was like a miracle. Grace in her guardian angel form cured that lady's eyesight. She had used her power for good. One day while walking down the park Mother superior caught her and pointed a gun at her. Like always she got killed in a freak accident. The film ends the Grace saying, My brother believed I have a guardian angel and I believed in nothing. But now I am not sure. With this, the film ends.
I must say what a film. So what happened here? well, basically Grace was born in the 12th century. she was an angel with supernatural powers. The child might have helped people back then unknowingly. The church didn't like this, another christ like figure doing miracles was like crossing the red line. They sent crusaders after her and got her kidnapped. Instead of killing her, they kept her in a scared crypt which prevented her from aging.
The child escaped from the crypt in 1993 due to an earthquake and subsequently got adopted. When Grace jumped it seemed god caught her and her guardian angel got activated. This angle time traveled and shaped Grace's future in such a way that she ended up jumping from the top. The church and the nun were devoted to preventing Grace's identity as they always believed in one god and his shadow. Grace was a threat to the Vatican if she decided to use her powers in public. Hence they branded her as evil. From all this Grace understood herself clearly and started using her powers for the good of society in incognito mode. Overall this is a superb film with a great story, cinematography, location, and direction. It's a must-watch.
