“The Nun II” Review
Taissa Farmiga reprises her role as Sister Irene to combat the demon Valek in “The Nun II,” the ninth film in The Conjuring Universe.
When I first started writing about films, I was a journalist for my school newspaper, The Northern Star, at Northern Illinois University. One of the first films I ever reviewed in written form was “The Nun,” a spin-off of “The Conjuring 2” which focused on the origins of the demon Valak. Despite not liking the film, especially in comparison to previous films in The Conjuring Universe, I couldn’t help but be interested in seeing the recently released sequel. After all, the entire Conjuring Universe has been such an iconic force in mainstream horror cinema. While better than its predecessor, “The Nun II” doesn’t reach the highs of films like “The Conjuring” or “Annabelle: Creation” resulting in a film that is enough to entertain fans of the series but not to entice newcomers.
Set in 1956, four years after the first film, a series of brutal murders of priests and nuns of the Catholic Church causes the Vatican to approach Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), whose fight against Valek in the first film has garnered her a kind of anonymous fame within the church. When Sister Irene discovers that Valek has returned, she and Sister Debra (Storm Reid), a novice nun with struggles in faith, make their way to a girls boarding school in Tarascon, France to defeat this demon and save the lives of everyone at the school.
Like the first film, where “The Nun II” excels is in its gothic atmosphere. With the setting being a monastery turned boarding school, it’s the kind of classic setting you’d see in a Roger Corman film from the 1950s. There’s mist on the ground, dark stairwells and shoes click on the stone floors, everything I enjoy in classically made horror films. Director Michael Chaves, whose previous work has included “The Curse of La Llorona” and “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” has improved himself behind the camera and really does a marvelous job with crafting this rich environment.
I can’t stand it when a film goes overboard on its jump-scares. Not only does it feel lazy but they become pretty easy to spot after a while and just kill the mood. While “The Nun” was a big offender in this regard, the sequel manages to improve itself with several engaging sequences that build up suspense. However, the preludes are often more enticing than the payoff and there’s not that much innovation with the jump-scare.
Reprising her role as Sister Irene, Taissa Farmiga brings a more hardened piety to this performance as opposed to her more fresh-faced persona in the first film. There’s a relatability to Sister Irene that keeps her relatively engaging. I especially loved it when a representative of The Vatican asked her to investigate the demonic murders and she just said “no.” Of course she can’t let innocent people die, but it’s good to know that she’s scared like the rest of us.
Jonas Bloquet is also wonderful as Maurice, Irene’s guide from the first film who is now at the center of this demonic haunting. While I found him annoying in the first film, Bloquet really brings a likable quality to him this time around that had me invested in his character arc. Along with a fun supporting cast including Storm Reid, fresh from powerhouse performances in “The Last of Us” and “Euphoria,” the film has the kind of demon-hunting characters that make The Conjuring Universe an endearing franchise.
While all the pieces are there for a solid, commercially-pleasing horror film, there just isn’t the same fresh spark that came from the first two “Conjuring” films and “Annabelle: Creation.” Watching those films, I understand why The Conjuring Universe has had this massive impact on horror, bringing back more classic supernatural stories to horror. Watching “The Nun II,” all I see is a good enough horror film. As far as the franchise goes, it’s definitely an improvement compared to “Annabelle” or “The Nun,” but it’s probably not going to be the big horror film of the Halloween season.
