Sydney Sweeney fleeing an evil priest with nefarious plans. Nell Tiger Free suffering dark, demonic visions across Rome. Virginie Efira exploring eroticism in the 17th century.

These are the loose plots of recent films Immaculate, The First Omen, and Benedetta. What do all these films have in common? They’re all about nuns and fall into the “nunsploitation” subgenre, which has seen an uptick in popularity this year. (Even the biggest horror release of the year, Longlegs, featured a scary nun.) 

Are you already a fan of the subgenre, or totally new to the premise? Let us take you on a journey through all the possibilities of nunsploitation. 

Nunsploitation Is an Established but Underutilized Genre

“Nunsploitation” is a subgenre within the sensationalist, sexy exploitation genre, which saw an explosion of films of varying quality, especially during the sex-positive, free-loving 1970s in Europe and the U.S. 

These stories were usually set in convents, often in the Middle Ages, perhaps because the distant past was safer to explore (and maybe more shocking to conservative sensibilities) than present-day stories. But now you can play in any time period and location you like. Maybe it’s your turn to update the subgenre in a totally new way! 

The First Omen (2024)

Another common trope in nunsploitation is the fish-out-of-water protagonist. In these stories, a young woman is usually about to take the veil (forcibly or otherwise) in a new location with new people. Writing this type of character is great for winning an audience but also a strong method for introducing your world in a way that doesn’t feel too on the nose. 

Whatever the period or your approach, there’s something inherently captivating about exploring the closed, quiet worlds of convents, where writers can explore Catholic traditions and rigid feminine behaviors veiled in holy secrecy—as well as how characters might rebel against these traditions and expectations. 

You’ve got it all in these settings! Religious tension, sexual tension, conflict between old and new ways, women in and out of wimples, any or all of which could jettison you as a writer into a compelling storyline.

These rich settings and premises make nunsploitation a fun playground for new tales within established conventions. What would happen if you threw pietistic characters into strange or sensual situations? Almost anything, and the drama will be delicious! 

You Have These Examples of Strong Nunsploitation Films

Although nunsploitation really flowered in the 1960s, 1947’s Black Narcissus is an earlier example that laid the foundation for the subgenre. In the film, Deborah Kerr sets up a very horny convent in the Himalayas, in a former harem, no less. There, her nuns are tempted by memories of their previous lives while also clashing with the practices of the local population. 

Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, the film features sensual, colorful visuals and an omnipresent wind throughout expansive sets. It’s a must-watch with a chilling finale.

For another early example, check out Mother Joan of the Angels by Polish director Jerzy Kawalerowicz. The 1961 film finds a priest entering a coven of possessed nuns. There’s repression, self-flagellation, and exorcisms galore. 

Mother Joan of the Angels (1961)

Often crowned as the origin of true nunsploitation, the controversial and hard-to-find The Devils was released in 1971. Featuring shades of horror, history, and drama, the film was written, produced, and directed by Ken Russell, and starred Vanessa Redgrave as a sex-obsessed nun serving under the unorthodox Oliver Reed. 

Infamously plagued by Catholic protests and censorship, the provocative film pushed the envelope in the subgenre, but Warner Bros. succumbed to public pressure, cut several scenes, and locked the film away. (Can you still find it? Maybe.)

Screenwriters know how important the first page of a script is. And the screenplay of The Devils establishes its tonal mix of lust, religion, and horror from page one. Viewers are not eased into this colorful world of debauchery but dropped right in, so they will have a fairly solid idea of what this story will hold from its opening lines and shocking images.

The promiscuity of this world is immediately apparent, as well as the tension and temptation for characters within it (and what can happen to those who buck convention).

Story of a Cloistered Nun followed closely after in 1973, signaling the subgenre was really taking off. This Italian film featured Eleonora Giorgi as a young woman forced into the nunnery against her will. Soon, dozens of films joined the fray.

Paul Verhoeven’s 2021 film Benedetta is definitely more of the erotic ilk, and sees a young woman mixing the sacred and profane in new ways (I mean, I’d certainly never seen a religious icon used that way). 

This year’s The First Omen is a precursor to little Damien’s first appearance in 1976 and follows a young woman who joins a convent in Rome, only to learn they want to use her to bring about the end of the known world and restore faith. In Immaculate, Sydney Sweeney’s virginal Cecilia mysteriously falls pregnant, so she must be ushering in the second coming, right? Horror ensues.

Immaculate (2024)

Nunsploitation Plays Well with Other Genres

As you’ve probably guessed, nunsploitation is a subgenre that you can use in almost any screenplay concoction you can imagine. This gives you the freedom to use its tropes in fun ways or turn them on their head entirely.

Is comedy your bag? The Little Hours is probably the silliest example of comedic nunsploitation, but it definitely has elements we’ve come to expect in the medieval setting and focus on sexual repression.

Horror has definitely paired with nunsploitation since the days of The Devils, but The Nun would be a modern example from the Conjuring universe. The creepy convents, proximity of the supernatural, and potential for blasphemy are all ripe for horror stories.

Maybe you’re into musicals, but you don’t want to do The Sound of Music. Think instead of Entre Tinieblas (Dark Habits) by Pedro Almodóvar, a black comedy with musical numbers—and a tiger!

Entre Tinieblas (1983)

If it’s politics and crime you want, look to the 1973 entry The Nun and the Devil, a nunsploitation film set during the Roman Inquisition. As James Newton wrote for Offscreen, in this film the “personal ambitions of a corrupt woman are linked to the exploitations and corruption of both the Church and proto-capitalists.”

You can even mix nunsploitation and action. Just look at Nude Nuns with Big Guns (2010) or Nun of That (2008). 

With its recent horror hits and its strong, sleazy tradition, the nunsploitation subgenre might be ready for revitalization.