The Nun review

THE NUN:

CONJURING 2 PREQUEL LACKS SCARES!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES AND NEW LINE CINEMA

Valak will begin her reign of terror in The Nun

            From director, Corin Hardy (The Hallow) and producer, James Wan (Saw, Insidious 1 and 2, Furious 7) comes the latest installment of the hugely successful Conjuring film series, The Nun. The film is the third spin-off in the franchise following 2014’s Annabelle and its 2017 prequel, Annabelle: Creation and serves as a prequel to 2016’s The Conjuring 2, which featured the demonic nun spirit known as Valak.

            Most of the Conjuring movies have been hit or miss for me, the first one released in 2013 was a really solid return to classic haunted house scares, Annabelle was a complete letdown and pretty forgettable outside of a brilliantly scary scene involving an elevator, the second Conjuring movie was a decent follow-up to the first movie even if it relied on a lot of familiar scares, and Annabelle: Creation I recall describing as the “Ouija: Origin of Evil of Conjuring movies” and offered some good scary fun. So, I was curious to see how The Nun would turn out, would it be an absolutely chilling horror flick that gives us closure on the questions we’ve had since The Conjuring 2 or would it fall victim to the trappings of the first Annabelle movie? Take a wild guess just by looking at the subtitle I gave it.

            The film has impressive production design that delivers a creepy atmosphere, strong performances by its leads, and some brilliant set-ups for scares. Unfortunately, the film gets lost in an overreliance on jump scares, an inconsistent narrative that arguably raises more questions than answers, and the scares are very predictable with little variety.

            Set in 1952, the film follows a priest with a haunted past known as Father Burke (Demián Bichir-The Heat, The Hateful Eight, Alien: Covenant) and a novitiate on the threshold on her final vows, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga-American Horror Story: Murder House, The Bling Ring, Justice League VS Teen Titans) who are sent to the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun who mysteriously took her own life. Together they uncover an unholy secret and risking not only their lives but their faith and souls as they confront a malicious force in the form of the demonic nun, Valak (Bonnie Aarons-Mulholland Drive, Drag Me to Hell, Silver Linings Playbook) and transform a cloistered abbey into a battlefield between the living and the damned.

            The film also stars Jonas Bloquet (The Family, 3 Days to Kill, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets) as Frenchie, Charlotte Hope (Game of Thrones, The Theory of Everything, Allied) as Sister Victoria, Ingrid Bisu (Dracula: The Dark Prince, The Zero Theorem, Toni Erdmann) as Sister Oana, Jonny Coyne (Alcatraz, Once Upon a Time, The Hangover: Part III) as Gregoro, and Michael Smiley (Kill List, The Hallow, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as Bishop Pasquale.

            Overall, The Nun is a well-made but disappointing prequel to The Conjuring 2 that never quite delivers the shocks and terror it deserves. It’s just another generic jump scare fest with sudden “BOO!”’s and nobody flinching in the audience because they have been done to death.

            Yes, the Conjuring movies have a lot of jump scares but at least they were balanced with subtle and atmospheric chills. Here, just about every scary sequence involves a bunch of things jumping out and “Scaring” you when in actuality it comes off as loud, repetitive, and obnoxious.

            The plot ranges from typical haunted church or castle fare to absolutely ridiculous, apparently the nuns constantly pray to prevent evil from emerging after a duke tried to unleash a demonic entity from a rift under the church’s catacombs but after the duke was defeated and the rift from Hell was closed, it was reopened after planes dropped bombs on it during World War II. So, that means the events of World War II are responsible for unleashing demonic spirits upon the Earth.

            Despite the film’s flaws, there are some things to admire, the acting for the most part is solid, the production design is impressive and offers a creepy atmosphere reminiscent of the classic Universal monster movies, and there are some interesting ideas in it. Sadly, they’re not enough to save the movie.

            The Nun isn’t a horrible movie and has sparks of legit terror, but I feel the premise was never fully realized and what should be a fascinating dive into religion and fate has been reduced down to a generic “Boo!” fest. If you’re a fan of the entire Conjuring franchise you might find something to enjoy here, but if you’re looking for more, I’d suggest praying for a much better scary movie to watch, at least Halloween looks promising.