Set the Controls to the Heart of the Nun
Directed by Michael Chaves
Starring Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons
Released September 8th, 2023
Rated PG-13
This is the ninth film in The Conjuring Universe, but don’t be stressed if you haven’t seen the previous eight. All you need to know is that a demonic entity presenting as a scary nun is brutally murdering people. Again. The last time this happened, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) managed to put a stop to the evil being. But demons are nothing if not tenacious. And so, Sister Irene is called on by the Church to vanquish the evil spirit in the habit known as Valak (Bonnie Aarons) once again.
These Church leaders know that Sister Irene faced a demon and lived to tell, but it’s not common knowledge. Sister Irene now lives a humble life in a convent in Italy, with the other sisters, including Sister Debra (Storm Reid), none the wiser about her heroic demon slaying adventure. When the killings start happening again, the Church summons her to help, in a scene that evokes a reluctant action hero coming out from a quiet existence and thrown once more into the fray.
In 2018’s The Nun, Sister Irene had help battling evil from Father Burke (Demián Bichir). In The Nun II, the filmmakers unceremoniously kill Father Burke off-screen. My hope is that Father Burke has not in fact died from cholera, but that he is actually on a secret mission on behalf of the Cloth, to defeat an evil nurse or something.
The Nun 2 does feature the return of “Frenchie” aka Maurice (Jonas Bloquet) who, after assisting Sister Irene in (temporarily) vanquishing Valak in the last film, is now working as a handyman in a boarding school in France. Maurice has a budding romance with schoolteacher Kate (Anna Popplewell) and is quite close with her daughter Sophie (Katelyn Rose Downey) as well. He’s a good guy. I hope nothing bad happens to him. On the hunt for Valak, Sister Irene and Sister Debra eventually make their way to the boarding school, where Sister Irene reunites with Maurice and our heroes battle the demon nun.
A standout scene in The Nun 2 features Sister Irene standing in front of a newsstand, as an eerie wind blows magazine pages open revealing disturbing images within. The images get weirder until they finally show a dark image of Valak, towering over Sister Irene. Just before this wonderful moment, eagle-eyed viewers may notice letters spelling out the demon’s name all around Sister Irene. A nice call-back to something similar in The Conjuring 2.
Bonnie Aarons has become a well-recognized horror movie villain over the course of her three appearances as Valak. Her evil nun is devilishly fun to watch, truly a modern horror icon. Taissa Farmiga is just so watchable as Sister Irene. It’s nice to see her character become more confident over the two films. I hope we get to see her again.
2018’s The Nun was directed by Corin Hardy, who gave his picture the moodiness of a Hammer Horror film. The Nun II is directed by Michael Chaves, who brings more of a funhouse feel, with plenty of jump scares breaking the tension created by slow walks down dark passages. The film concerns a quest for the eyes of St. Lucy, which is a good McGuffin even though it doesn’t make a lot of sense as to why Valak wants to obtain them.
The screenplay by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and Akela Cooper may contain religious inaccuracies (a character saying, “Holy Spirit” instead of the era-appropriate “Holy Ghost,” and nuns – not a Priest – performing transubstantiation), but these are easily forgiven when there is a demon nun on the loose. The film features Sister Irene employing some level of clairvoyance, which may be a way for them to link the character with paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren, who in this series is portrayed by Taissa Farmiga’s older sister Vera.
The next announced movie in this universe is the fourth Conjuring film, tentatively titled Last Rites. Current chatter suggests the filmmakers would like it to conclude the series, which by the time of that film’s release would contain ten installments released over twelve or so years. I’d love to see a proper ending for the series, but I realize that the huge success of the franchise all but guarantees we will see storylines and characters continue to pop up over the coming years in legacy sequels, reboots, and remakes. While not incredibly scary, The Nun II is a solid installment if you enjoy these movies as I have. It’s a demon dressed as a nun murdering people and only real nuns can stop it. That’s quality entertainment if you ask me.