Movie Info
Movie Name: The Nun
Studio: Movie Studio
Genre(s): Movie Genre
Release Date(s): Movie Release Date
MPAA Rating: Movie Rating
Yep…this is the point where I just turn around and go home…no investigation
In 1952, a nun’s suicide in Romania is discovered by a man named Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) who was making a delivery. The church decides to send Father Burke (Demián Bichir) and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) to the Saint Cartha’s monastery to investigate the suicide and determine if the ground is still holy. When they discover a horror hidden within the monastery, the threat of the evil being released on the world grows.
Directed by Corin Hardy, The Nun is a horror film part of the Conjuring universe of films. The movie is a direct spin-off of The Conjuring 2 from 2016 but following Annabelle: Creation in 2017. It was released to mostly negative reviews but was a box office success.
The Conjuring was a so-so to decent horror film since it was an original film which is so rare nowadays with remakes and sequels. The Conjuring 2 was on par with The Conjuring, but I haven’t really enjoyed the Annabelle spinoffs. While I found The Nun the creepiest part of The Conjuring 2, The Nun itself suffered from an overly complex and blasé horror script.
Everyone in these movies suffer from the classic “it’s behind you” syndrome…
I do like the set-up for The Nun. It has a lot of aspects of horror movies like The Keep or the two Exorcist prequels with a curse, mysterious castle-esque location of religious nature. Both The Keep and Exorcist prequels weren’t great films themselves and suffered a lot from the same problems that The Nun had…a great set-up with no plans once the danger grows. It becomes a very generic case of possession-haunting that is solved in a predictable manor.
The film has odd character structure in that it seems to lack a main character. It feels like Demián Bichir should be the main character because of the set-up but then Sister Irene becomes the main character (played by Taissa Farmiga whose sister Vera Farmiga plays Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring films) for most of the film. Demián Bichir disappears for chunks at a time, and it doesn’t feel like they are real team in the film which the movie needed. The same is said for Jonas Bloquet who also disappeared for a chunk of the movie only to show up in the last reel…it doesn’t feel like he’s incorporated enough. Bonnie Aarons reprises her scary role as the Nun (she has a trend of being terrifying…she was bum in Mulholland Dr.) and characters from the first films do cameo.
Now turn for the camera…
The movie has a lot of atmosphere but that almost makes it worse. With great sets and a great look, I really wanted the movie to be better. If the story and the visuals came together better, the movie would have been great.
The Nun just feels like a filler film. It doesn’t give you really anything new. There are jumps but they are oddly predictable (aka and now she turns around to see the demon…yup). The movie just feels bland and underdeveloped. The Conjuring universe continues with the spin-off film The Curse of La Llorona in 2019.
Related Links:
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
