The next movie in The Conjuring universe, the horror The Nun II, has been released. Read on in our review to find out how the new movie turned out and what you should know before watching it.
A little bit of background
The movie is a direct sequel to the 2018 film of the same name and the ninth installment of The Conjuring movie universe. Despite the fact that the films in the franchise consistently receive mixed reviews, this series is one of the most financially successful in the horror genre in history.
It all started in 2013, when the world saw The Conjuring, a horror film by Australian director James Wan. It was he who launched two other successful horror franchises, Saw and Astral. The first installment of The Conjuring received positive reviews from both critics and audiences, and had an impressive box office success – more than $300 million in revenue on a budget of $20 million. Naturally, they decided to develop the franchise further.
Since then, the universe has released two more “The Conjuring” films, three “Anabelle” films, two “Nuns” films, and one more film outside the main lineup, “The Curse of La Llorona.” In addition, The Conjuring: Last Rites is also scheduled for release next year.
Although the first The Nun received rather low ratings, the film proved to be financially successful at the box office, and therefore received a sequel. Thus, on IMDb, the film currently has a score of 5.3 out of 10, while on Rotten Tomatoes it received only 24% approval from critics and 35% from the general audience. Meanwhile, on Metacritic, film experts gave it 46 points out of 100, and viewers gave it 5.4 points out of 10, which in both cases corresponds to the characterization of “mixed or average reviews.” At the same time, with a budget of $22 million, it managed to gross more than $365 million worldwide.
Nevertheless, in the second “Nun” they decided to change the director – Corin Hardy was replaced by Michael Chavez, who also directed “The Curse of La Llorona” and “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It”.
What the new movie is about
The story arc of both “Nuns” revolves around the powerful demon Valak, who takes on the form of an ominous nun. This character first appeared in The Conjuring 2 (2016), in the ending of which Ed and Lorraine Warren managed to overcome evil – the events of this movie took place in 1976, i.e. about 25 years before the first The Nun. After that, Valak appeared in the post-credits scene of Annabelle: Creation (2017), announcing the release of a solo movie about him.
The Nun II takes place about five years after the end of the first film, in which Sister Irene, along with Father Burke and their accomplice Maurice (Frenchy), seemingly managed to return Valak to Hell. However, even then, the movie’s ending hinted that things were not so simple – a piece of the demon managed to take possession of Maurice.
The second film, The Nun, begins with the brutal murder of a priest in France right in the middle of a church, and the audience immediately realizes who is behind it. Meanwhile, Sister Irene serves in another French convent and tries to distance herself from what happened five years ago in Romania.
One night she has a dream about Maurice, and soon she receives a visit from the Vatican, who asks her to take up a new case. Thus, the heroine finds herself in a French boarding school for girls on the site of a former monastery – and it is here again that she will have to fight Valak, as well as try to save her old and new friends.
Who’s in the lead roles
The main role in the film, as in the previous installment, was played by the American actress of Ukrainian descent Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story anthology, We Have Always Lived in the Castle). By the way, she is the younger sister of actress Vera Farmiga, who plays the titular role of Lorraine Warren in the films of the “The Conjuring” series. That’s a family connection.
Also, in The Nun II, Belgian actor Jonas Bloquet (Elle, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets) reprised his role as Maurice. Meanwhile, the image of the demonic nun was reprised by American actress Bonnie Aarons (Drag Me to Hell, Silver Linings Playbook).
Among the newcomers to the franchise is actress Storm Reid (Euphoria, The Last of Us, The Invisible Man, The Suicide Squad). She played the role of Sister Debra, a young nun who is unsure of her faith and goes with Irene to investigate new manifestations of evil.
Anna Popplewell (The Chronicles of Narnia series, Reign) played the role of a teacher at the boarding school for girls, and English television actress Susanna Bertish was given the role of the boarding school’s owner, Madame Laurent.
Reaction to the movie
Traditionally, critics don’t indulge horror films with good reviews, but some films from the Spell universe have managed to break this trend (no, it wasn’t The Nun – as we wrote above, the first film in this line didn’t get the best reviews).
Nevertheless, The Nun II has received better reviews from critics than the first installment. Thus, on IMDb, the film currently has a score of 6.1 out of 10, while on Rotten Tomatoes it has received 52% approval from critics. Meanwhile, on Metacritic, film experts gave it 49 points out of 100, and viewers gave it 5.8 points out of 10, which in both cases corresponds to “mixed or average reviews.”
Our verdict
The Nun II will be a perfect fit for fans of The Conjuring universe and those who primarily appreciate the atmosphere in horror films. There are no gruesome bloody scenes here, instead, the horror is generated by the images and sounds (special respect for the scene with wine). The plot is quite simple, without any complicated twists and turns or innovations, but also without serious flaws.
Objectively, we can say that the second movie is less creepy than the first, but aesthetically and logically it wins a little.
Overall score: 6.5 out of 10 points.
