It seems like the makers of The Conjuring franchise are not bothered much about the craft aspect of the movies in the franchise, and they are mostly interested in capitalizing on the popularity of the characters. 2018’s The Nun was one film that narrated a story around the demon Nun Valak. The very last-minute twist where the central character spits blood on the title character was the only memorable moment from that creatively lackluster movie. Regarding the sequel, The Nun II, the story is indeed moving forward in terms of the development of characters. But the tools are getting repeated here as well.
So after the events in the first part, Sister Irene and Maurice, aka Frenchie, have parted ways to different places. Maurice works in a boarding school, and Irene is now in another monastery. The death of multiple priests and nuns gives the Vatican suspicion about the return of Valak. They approach and demand Irene to investigate it as she is the only one alive who has survived the attack of the demonic nun. What we see in The Nun II is Irene’s investigation and how it has a link with Maurice.
Since it is the continuation of the first part, there is this advantage of not having to establish characters. And I was actually curious to know how they will take these characters forward as they have the baggage of the traumatizing experience. But after giving hope by placing both Irene and Frenchie in different places, the story eventually goes after the same trope and repeats this relic-driven solution. Once the relic is introduced into the plot, the whole plot becomes easily predictable.
As Irene, Taissa Farmiga, this time, gets to play a more mature version of the character, and she was okay in that role. Jonas Bloquet, as Frenchie, actually gets to do something different as his character is very visibly affected by the Valak trauma. From being that friend to Sophie and her mother to being that possessed huge human, Bloquet was convincing in his role. Storm Reid, as the rebellious sister Debra, is the new addition to the star cast. Even though the character seemed to have some unique purpose in the beginning portions, eventually, Debra got lost in the crowd. Anna Popplewell and Katelyn Rose Downey are the other names in the limited star cast.
Michael Chaves, who previously directed The Curse of La Llorona and The Conjuring 3, is very much applying the same visual techniques for this one, too. Whenever there is a little bit of darkness in the frame, you, as an audience, are expecting the Valak to appear there, and Chaves is not doing anything significantly better to surprise us. The only good thing was the lack of jumpscare sound effects in certain scenes where the shock is kind of silent. As I already said, once Saint Lucy’s Eyes, the relic for this part, is introduced into the script, the movie starts to feel pretty generic, and after that, you are just counting the number of jumpscares that will actually give you the shock.
Movies in The Conjuring franchise have been underwhelming craft-wise for a long time now, and I think the cult status of the first film is giving every film in the franchise a good box-office opening, as the characters are familiar to almost everyone. The Nun II is yet another forgettable addition to the franchise, with nothing new on the offering. There were a lot of youngsters frequently laughing at each jumpscare, trying to make themselves look cool. If your idea of entertainment for a horror film resonates with that behavior, The Nun II might work for you.
The Nun II is yet another forgettable addition to the franchise, with nothing new on the offering.
Green: Recommended Content
Orange: The In-Between Ones
Red: Not Recommended
