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I was one of the few people who didn’t really mind the first Nun movie for the most part. Sure, it was a little derivative, but it was a neat little exercise in gothic atmosphere with some solid spectacle that brings to mind the works of Hammer Films, Mario Bava. Most of which I’m sure could be at least somewhat credited to the director, Corin Hardy, who comes from the horror space. But these things move on, new blood gets brought in, and it’s at least an interesting new crew. Michael Chaves of The Curse Of La Llorona and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is now in the directors chair, working off a script by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and most interesting of all – Akela Cooper, who also has a Story By credit, and she’s the mad woman behind Malignant and M3GAN.
Several years after the events of the first film, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) is living a reclusive life in an Italian monastery. Meanwhile, Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), who is now going by Maurice, is working as a groundskeeper at a girls boarding school in France, where mysterious and spooky things begin happening, and they may be a part of a pattern of activity that Sister Irene is brought to investigate, with the surprise and insistence of her friend Sister Debra (Storm Reid). Unfortunately, their worst fears have been realized when it appears that the demon Valak (Bonnie Aarons) has returned to wreak all sorts of havoc at the boarding school.
For folks who did not like the first film, but are generally open to these kinds of movies, particularly the ones in the greater Conjuring universe, they might find themselves being more engaged with this film. While I think the overall quality is about the same (speaking as someone who did enjoy the first film well enough), this film feels a lot more easy to emotionally connect with. We see Maurice being friendly with the students, especially with this one girl, Sophie (Katelyn Rose Downey), who is constantly bullied by some of the older girls, and he even shares a growing bond with Sophie’s mother, also one of the teachers, Kate (Anna Popplewell). Even the addition of Reid’s Debra, who is going through a bit of crisis of faith, adds an additional layer for the audience to connect with, and it all functions pretty well.
Chaves being behind the camera definitely guarantees you a fairly polished product, especially with this particular brand of horror language that James Wan has practically invented. However, don’t expect a lot of style to go with it. The shot compositions are serviceable, and aside from a few key moments, there isn’t really an image that genuinely stuck with me. Not to be overly critical, but Chaves doesn’t quite bring the same level of atmosphere that we got in the previous film. But again, it’s still well made, the budget has been put to good use, the costumes are good, the effects are (mostly) strong, the editing from Gregory Plotkin keeps things going at a steady pace, and Marco Beltrami delivers with the score.
With Cooper being involved, I would have hoped for things to be a bit more wild than it turned out to be, but that doesn’t mean this film doesn’t go big. If there’s one thing you can say about the Conjuring movies, they love to end with an action packed climax. This one doesn’t disappoint, we got a demon chasing kids, wind blowing everywhere, buildings falling apart, possessions, the works. And I loved whenever the film devotes time to bits of Christian mythology as if it was Dungeons And Dragons lore. Love all that stuff, when it goes into full on fantasy mode. Though, I will say that I am kinda struggling in connecting this demon to the one we first saw in The Conjuring 2, which a brief mid-credits scene was seemingly about to explain, but I only left with more questions.
The Nun II is by no means a great horror movie, but it’s a really solid horror film that is built with enough momentum and tension that it really felt like something was at stake when the characters were in danger. Overall, it’s a fairly solid adventure that doesn’t overstay its welcome. And it’s wild to me just how much of an impression Bonnie Aaron is able to make when under all that makeup and costume, she manages to make “standing still” seem like difficult work. Cause Valak rarely does anything on screen unless it’s a VFX shot, and it’s a testament to everyone involved, from her inception to this film, that she is able to make such a strong presence despite having no real discernible personality, aside from being a general a-hole. I had a pretty good time watching this, and while it’s by no means a favorite of this series, or even a particularly great stand alone horror film, it’s got plenty of admirable qualities, the folks behind it are putting a lot of work into this, and there are a bunch of moments that made this a worthy effort.
The Nun II is now out in theaters.