There is something a bit frustrating about the character of Valak (Bonnie Aarons). After a chilling debut in The Conjuring 2, the promise of the terror that this character can bring has not been fully realized. The imagery alone could illicit nightmares but expanded lore has only diluted the fear quotient. 2018’s The Nun, currently the highest-grossing entry of The Conjuring Universe on a global scale, was a series of predictable jump scares and slow-moving backstory that didn’t live up to its potential. This could’ve been corrected with The Nun II but sadly we only get a smidge of improvement from its predecessor. The scares are a bit better but they mostly replicate what we’ve seen before and the biggest travesty of the sequel, much like what came before, is that it’s mostly boring when Valak isn’t on screen. For a film that splashes her imagery across all the marketing material, her screen time is disappointingly low.
It has been four years since the events of The Nun and even though that first movie was a box office hit, it appears the sequel believes you might have forgotten what happened. A group of nuns provides the necessary recap and reminds viewers that the evil Valak once emerged out of a Romanian nunnery and was subsequently defeated by Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) with the help of local farmer Maurice (aka Frenchie) (Jonas Bloquet).
Maurice is now in the south of France working at a boarding school and before you know it, Valak’s evil has tracked him down. Sister Irene has been trying to put the past behind her but a series of ghoulish events all over Europe has made the Vatican seek out her help once again. Soon she is back in the habit alongside her new aide Sister Debra (Storm Reid), a young nun who seems lost in the faith that she’s supposed to embrace. As we anticipate the long-awaited reunion between Irene and Valak, the movie makes the audience wait for two-thirds of the film to make this happen and instead horror fans have to spend a lot of time with young students we don’t really care about, and watching characters do A LOT of research instead of letting Valak do what she does best.
Director Michael Chaves is no stranger to this universe having helmed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and The Curse Of La Llorona (the latter of which is now being declared not a part of the universe so it’s all a bit confusing at this point). The upside to his inclusion is that he can set up some of the scares well and he provides the sequel with an eerie style throughout. The problem is he’s not really sure how to utilize it. For a horror film, the body count is very low but the PG-13 rating could likely be blamed for that so instead of going for something more exploitative, it feels like Chaves can’t decide what kind of fright film he’s trying to make. Both Nun movies have been more story-driven than anything so it appears that he wants to execute something more elevated but in order for that to work, the story has to be interesting. The Nun II feels more like a boring history lesson when it’s not trying to scare us.
The scares are pretty much more of the same but SOME of them work, although one of the best has been given away in all of the film’s trailer. As Sister Irene stands in front of a magazine stand, the pages begin to flutter with no help from the wind. Of course, the audience has seen the scare if they have seen the trailer but kudos to Chaves for presenting it in such a way that you almost forget it. Ultimately though, most of the scares arrive in such a predictable fashion that you’ll be able to see them coming long before they try to land.
On the plus side, Chaves works well with his cinematographer Tristan Nyby as they create a wonderfully gothic world that owes a bit of debt to Italian Giallo movies and other forms of European horror. The aura of dread is telegraphed well with the dimly lit corridors of of the school providing some visual chills. If anything, the film is certainly beautiful to look at.
Thankfully the performances are not the problem and Taissa Farmiga once again proves herself to be a capable lead. Her emotive eyes and quivering lips convincingly convey true fear but she also gives Sister Irene a sense of strength. Irene doesn’t want to come up against Valak again but Farmiga plays her in such a way that the audience is aware she will go head-to-head with her if she has to. Also back is Jonas Bloquet who gets to bring back some of his amusing character beats as Maurice with a series of new characters.
Storm Reid is also a welcomed addition as Sister Debra, who gives the film a bit of levity when necessary. Her energy is much appreciated across the film’s 1 hour and 50 minute runtime and she plays off Farmiga very well. There are other new characters, mostly the young girls making up the students at the school but they don’t get much to do that leaves an impression.
The origin story for Valak is explored a bit more in the sequel but its significance to the overall story does feel a bit lacking. Fans of the greater Conjuring Universe will enjoy filling in all of the blanks and embracing the history but it won’t do much to entice the uninitiated. The ending, which won’t be revealed here, does feel a bit rushed and its series of revelations don’t have the narrative weight the filmmakers believe they do.
There is a mid-credits scene that you should stick around for if you’re a fan of the Conjuring franchise. It provides one of the moments worth sticking around for, even though the main film is already over. As a standalone, The Nun II is too much of the same. The same jump scares, the same sense of foreboding dread, and the same overall sense that this isn’t all that exciting. This is a sequel that didn’t learn much from the shortcomings of its predecessor.
The Nun II will debut in theaters on September 8, 2023 courtesy of Warner Bros.
As a standalone, The Nun II is too much of the same. The same jump scares, the same sense of foreboding dread, and the same overall sense that this isn't all that exciting. This is a sequel that didn't learn much from the shortcomings of its predecessor. Fans of the greater Conjuring Universe will enjoy filling in all of the blanks and embracing the history but it won't do much to entice the uninitiated.
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Hello! My name is Gaius Bolling: movie, TV, and pop culture junkie! The industry has been in my veins since I was a kid and I have carried that on through adulthood. I attended Los Angeles Film Academy and participated in their screenwriting and editing program. From there, I have learned to hone my skills in the world of entertainment journalism. Some of my favorite genres include horror, action, and drama and I hope to share my love of all of this with you.
