It’s been thirteen years since James Wan’s blockbuster horror sensation, The Conjuring (2013), scared the bejesus out of audiences and made juicy movie reaction videos. The film that sparked a cinematic universe remains one of Warner Bros.’s beacons of studio horror and spawned countless spin-offs and franchises as some poor man’s version of a cinematic universe, desperate for every box office dollar imaginable. (Funnily enough, it has been more successful than the pathetic D.C. universe Warner can’t seem to make viable.) The Conjuring universe easily lends itself to being a movie-going staple, partially to the fact that horror is one of the few genres audiences are willing to take a chance and give themselves over in being frightened.
The films that the Conjuring trilogy has generated vary in terms of quality. The Annabell trilogy started as a cheap jumpscare-thon with no vitality or consideration for the audience’s intelligence but grew to be a slick funhouse of thrill rides all centered on a doll someone should have incinerated years ago. The Nun (2018) followed the same trademark of taking an iconic villain from The Conjuring 2 (2016) and watering it down with cheap, unearned jump scares, dim lighting that clouded the characters’ faces for the duration, and an overall sense of lazy filmmaking.
While the film was derided by critics, it became one of the most successful films in the universe. Tremendous credit to Bonnie Aarons for creating a genuine creepy icon without so much as uttering a line of dialogue. Her facial performance in distilling a creepy demeanor that provokes a guttural response in the viewer is a trademark of her uncanny ability to be unsettling without feeling forced. Naturally, a sequel would follow. After five years of changing viewing habits and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) ending the trilogy on an underwhelming whimper, is it worth saying some hail marys if one must endure The Nun II (2023)?
A veteran of the universe, Michael Chaves, takes over directing duties from Corin Hardy and manages to create a superior sequel that builds from its predecessor whilst ratcheting up the scares, having a sense of fun and enthusiasm for the ridiculousness of a grinning nun demon terrorizing Europe while maintaining the most menacing-looking grimace hell can provide. That doesn’t necessarily negate the tired dialogue and the prolonged set-up to scares that feel telegraphed long before they’re executed, but Chaves erases the drab and religious self-seriousness and injects a level of silliness that feels absent from a lot of possession horror films.
The sequel picks up years after Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) and Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) survived the first film’s events. Now separated, Sister Irene has secluded herself in an Italian nunnery, a peaceful place where she can tend to normal duties while mentoring a young novice, Sister Debra (Storm Reid), an American who’s the least interested in relinquishing her free will to faith while casually flaunting a cigarette. Frenchie works as a carpenter at a boarding school for girls in Tarascon, but unbeknownst to him, Valek has taken possession of him from the end of the first film.
These two narratives converge when Sister Irene is tasked by the Cardinal to investigate the brutal murder of Father Noiret in Tarascony. His murder is linked to a series of murders that are meant to look like suicides, as it is trending to Irene’s location. Irene has a keen sense of who may be responsible, and Debra tags along to help to help. Frenchie has a fun budding friendship with a young girl, Sophie (Katelyn Rose Downey), while having googly eyes for her mom, Kate (Anna Popplewell), also a teacher at the school. Chaves manages to juggle these two stories efficiently enough that the pacing doesn’t feel bogged down in the first film’s slow, glacial scare factor.
While fake-outs of scares are unfortunately aplenty in this film, so are some effective creepy imagery that manages to cut under the skin, one in which Irene comes across a magazine stand where she faces Valek for the first time in years. Or a scene in which Valek torments the boarding school’s older faculty member with her dead son that leads to a gruesome end. There’s a zestiness to what makes some of these installments entertaining and not a grind of fake jumpscares that Chaves (finally) taps into. After helming two lackluster installments in this universe–this is the best work he’s done. The Nun II allows him to not be obsessed with Conjuring lore or take the material that undercuts the thrilling horror too seriously.
Something unexpected is the level of care for the central characters, as Chaves and his writers instill some depth to his central cast that one can latch themselves onto and not complain about when they do idiotic actions like running into a dark alley yelling, “Hello?” or “Who’s there?” (It’s a staple for these films, but instead of groaning at them, we can feel some sense of dread for what they’ll come across.) Farmiga has her sister’s knack for acting, which comes with a leading presence where she can command the screen. While her characterization is broad, one dealing with a conflicting nature with her mother, Farmiga’s performance outshines the material and becomes a stand-in for The Conjuring’s Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga).
Her chemistry with Reid is also a welcome addition, as their dynamics of two investigating nuns almost have small ruminants of detective buddy films (we get the nuns in theory investigative modes, questioning people, finding evidence, and the obligatory, “I know someone at the Vatican Archives that can help us,” trope) but Reid is a capable actor and steps up to heading scenes of her own, one involving being chased by a terrifying goat monster that is a devilish surprise. The culmination of her ark is contrived and forced, but the momentum of the climax helps speed up the process of Debra having faith in god.
Bloquet is a charming presence, as he’s tasked with switching from the innocent, unassuming handyman who is in love with Kate to CGI body contortions and bleeding eyes as Valek uses him as a puppet to help find an ancient artifact for evil purposes. (Demons always try to find something to get back against God.) And for those familiar with his character in the universe as he goes by Maurice, there is an undercurrent of sadness as from the first Conjuring film, we do know of his tragic end, and the scenes in which he comforts a bullied Sophie or enjoys a tender moment with Kate allow Maurice’s tragedy to feel palpable and offer more dimensionality to a character that was originally relegated as a jumpscare.
No priest in the world can stop the endless parade of sequels, spin-offs, requels, and all such evil delights that the Conjuring universe has in store (unless the power of box office receipts compels the film executives to stop while they’re ahead). James Wan has moved on, and so has the smart filmmaking he injected into mainstream horror. The remnants he’s left are now up to new filmmakers to make anything as compelling as his films. Chaves does rise to the occasion, yet there is a subconscious thought of these films always feeling cheap imitations of what’s come before.
The Nun II doesn’t reinvent any wheels, but it also doesn’t fall on its face and waste an audience’s time. For all the scares, spooky lighting, and loud, abrupt music that jolts you in a quiet scene where nothing is happening, this sequel plays it safe, almost too safe to be anything exciting after nine films. But it’s better than what some of the worst reincarnations this universe has given, and maybe that’s enough. If only for a little while until Valek returns to The Nun vs. Annabell: Dawn of Evil showdown film.
Review Courtesy by Amritpal Rai
Feature Image Credit to Warner Bros. Studios via Deadline
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