1.2/5.0
A highly anticipated film stemming from the world of The Conjuring (2013). Although the expected similar horror from the originals weren’t present. Personable characters are what held the film together rather than its story; or really its lack thereof. From a Conjuring film fanatic perspective, this spin-off is a must-watch but did not surpass its predecessors. The setting suitably fit the eerie and gothic feel of the film which gave it an extra kick, although with its tonal inconsistency it became confusing.
Set in 1952, around 20 years before the original Conjuring, after a nun hangs herself in a distant Romanian abbey it catches the attention of the Vatican. A young promising nun Sister Irene, who has not yet taken her vows, is instructed to join Father Burke to investigate the recent suicide. The two meet with Frenchie, the farmer who found the deceased nun. Upon arrival to the abbey, the duo confused with the lack of direction from the nuns they take it upon themselves to unlock the secrets of the abbey. The mystery to uncover the truth about whether the holiness of the abbey still stands, becomes intercepted by the dark sinister evil that is Valak complicating the investigation.
Spoilers Below
Throughout the world of The Conjuring there have been some successes and some losses, overall The Nun (2018) follows those of the losses. The choppy storyline, tonal inconsistency, and lack of genuine horror push for a low “scare rating.” Few pluses to the film include the personable characters and gothic setting.
Without a clear storyline this is just an account about Father Burke and Sister Irene, both of which who struggle with troubled pasts with the occult, come together to find out if the abbey where a nun hung herself is still holy. Which with a suicidal nun, isn’t that kind of a given? Anyways, the story seemed choppy and fails to bring together a good plot. As their purpose is to find out if the abbey is still holy, which becomes very evident the first night at the abbey with multiple supernatural occurrences. But apparently this isn’t enough to convince Father Burke.
Until the end of the film, it did very minimal to fill in little-to-no blanks in reference to the original The Conjuring. Most of the other films are found to tie in well together, but in summation all we got from The Nun was that Frenchie was later exorcised by the Warren’s. But this exorcism is rather irrelevant to the story. Valak who was predominantly the feature of the film, ended up being sealed away in Hell. Since this is a prequel we know that Valak has to have found another way out. So here we go again to yet another spin-off. I find it surprising that Valak was the main horror feature and yet we found out absolutely nothing about him other than the fact that he’s evil. Duh.
Well let’s talk about the good. American Horror Story’s Taissa Farmiga, younger sister of Vera Farmiga (Lorraine Warren of The Conjuring), brought excitement and anticipation to the screen with this spin-off. Whether the familiar relation is relevant to the storyline is still unclear, but kind of doubtful…? Maybe. Taissa played a fair role and as the protagonist you’re rooting for her success. She became a personable character, without much buildup. It’s clear that Father Burke and Sister Irene were selectively chosen to come together on this journey due to their previous struggles with the supernatural. Father Burke still dealing with his failed exorcism of child Daniel, who comes to haunt him. Sister Irene manages her visions she’s had since her childhood confuse the line between reality and the occult. Frenchie who was just an innocent bystander happened to come across the deceased nun and is resentfully brought into the investigation. Instantly Frenchie becomes everyone’s favorite with his sincere wit and flirty personality. It seems everyone hopes he is left unscathed by Valak. Whoops. All in all the characters have unique backstories that although at first may seem insignificant, come to present as weaknesses that Valak later preys on.
The tonal inconsistency of this film was cringey to say the least. It was honestly uncomfortable to watch at times. The gothic and ghostly setting of the abbey set a fine background for the story. Despite some of the corny and predictable settings including the foggy cemetery. The tone of the film became confusing with its constant efforts to intimidate the audience, but failed. The random attempts to score a laugh felt more awkward than natural. Which brings me to the flirting between Frenchie and Sister Irene. Although it was mostly likely innocent, it felt out of place and clashed with the religious tone. Multiple people wanted the two to be brought together, but we’re talking about a future nun here… Sister Irene was specifically struggling with her visions, but blurred the lines between dreams and reality. We couldn’t tell if her visions were separate from the occult and came off almost on the realm of psychotic. Maybe I completely missed the point and her visions are tied to a later Lorraine Warren. To muddle even further with the tone, at certain moments in the film I was under the impression that an action theme was being implied. The ending battle with Valak was presented as action-packed alongside with the action musical scores, it became inconsistent with the horror tone. Overall the the film was found to be erratic with its original religious horror story objective.
As for the actual horror portion of the film. Okay to be honest, I would still recommend this film. Bonuses to watching this film is definitely viewing it in the dark along with some friends because, it will make it that much more enjoyable. The film was filled with an excessive amount of jump-scares. I can't lie at one point in the film there was a constant ten minutes worth of jump-scare and my apple watch was telling me to take a breath. But overall the jump-scares became redundant to the point where it became predictable. There few moments where I could admit that genuine I-don't-want-to-look-at-the-screen fear. Also Valak was openly present throughout the film and it came to a point where I could look at his face without fear because it was shown so many times. The hooded abbess was far more chilling than any of the times I saw Valak. Overall I still recommend the film and believe it’s worth a watch, specifically to the fans of The Conjuring.