We are living in the age of the cinematic universe. Marvel is of course leading the way in this department and the success of the MCU has led many studios to attempt similar venture, often with not great results (I'm looking at you DC). The Conjuring cinematic universe may be the weirdest of the cinematic universes, mainly because the films that are the basis of this universe are not based on any kind of already established source material. They are based on 'real' paranormal cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren but are in no way established in popular culture like superheroes are. I'd also like to say now that I am a fan of both The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring 2 (2016) with the latter being where the Nun from The Nun (2018) made its first appearance. I would also like to say that the first Nun scene in that film is the scariest part of the film and the moment I remember the best. All this said, when I heard that there was going to be a whole film based on the origin of this Nun I was kind of excited. Not jumping around for joy or anything, but I thought it could be okay. After seeing it I can safely say that The Nun is a very average, run of the mill horror film which is very much a one and done affair. The film opens with footage from The Conjuring 2 and showing Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) and her interactions with the Nun in that film. We then cut back to 1952 Romania, where we see a monastery where two nuns are attempting to lock up an unknown evil. This leads to one nun being taken by the creature, and the other committing suicide to avoid a confrontation with it. This leads to an experienced Priest and a nun who is yet to take her vows attempt to discover and rid the monastery of this evil, with the help of a French-Canadian man who lives locally to the monastery.
First thing I'd like to mention about the film is nothing to do with the quality of the film but with the casting, as the main character, Sister Irene, in this film looked very similar to Vera Farmiga, the main character in the Conjuring films. As it turns out Sister Irene is played by Taissa Farmiga, Vera's sister. This got me thinking that they may be the same character, or at least related, but they’re not as far as I can tell. Just two sisters playing completely different characters in the same universe. Nothing to do with the film, I just thought it was an interesting titbit. As for Taissa Farmiga's performance, it's perfectly okay. She hits all her emotional beats well and is an engaging and likeable character who you want to see succeed throughout the film. The other two main characters, Father Burke and Frenchie, played by Demian Bichir and Jonas Bloquet respectively, also put in good performances, with both characters being well written, likeable and having clear traits and experiences which make them the characters they are. These likeable characters are one of the strongest parts of the film, and the writers should be praised for this. The strongest parts of the film for me are in some of the visuals that we are given, some which take up the entire screen and other smaller visual that are almost in the corner of the frame. These were often times where you would see a silhouette or an undistinguishable object out of focus in the background, a technique that I really like in horror films, but the best moment of this kind was a moment where Sister Irene wakes up and sees a nun crouched in the corner of the room, facing away from her and frantically praying. We get a shot from just in front of this nun, showing Sister Irene in the background in bed and just in the top corner of the screen the crucifix on the wall starts to slowly turn upside down to signify the demon is present in the room. No real focus is put on this and it is something many people would miss, but it was a moment I really appreciated and was one of the genuinely creepy moments of the film. Another image I really liked is shown below, where all the nuns are in a circle of prayer whilst Sister Irene is knelt in the middle of the circle. The image is shown from above and it is a brilliant visual, especially with the contrast of the nuns in their black outfits and Sister Irene in her sharp white one. It was one moment where I felt the cinematography was top notch.
Unfortunately, this film is a horror film and it fails at the most basic film a horror film is attempting to be, it isn't scary. It isn't scary at all really. It falls into the trap of many modern horror films where it just becomes a jump scare fest, and it is just not a style of horror that I particularly care for. "But did you jump?" you may ask. Well yeah, I did jump, but I would also jump if you shouted at me out of nowhere or jumped out from behind a corner unexpectedly. That doesn’t make it scary, it makes it startling which is not the same thing. I don't remember any particular moments where I felt fear or dread, only ever slight moments of nerves when I knew a jump scare was coming. There are a few nice moments of gore, but these aren't particularly scary either. The scariest moments are those I've already mentioned where you see a silhouette in the background which sets up that something scary is about to happen, but the payoff is never great. And speaking of payoffs, the ending of this film is very poor. It doesn't even come close to being scary and is instead very over the top and ventures into the side of being stupid. And it is not the only moment of stupidity. There are a couple of moments in the film where there are zombie nuns (yes, really) which got a genuine chuckle out of me, which I'm guessing was not the reaction they were going for. There is not much else bad I can say about the film because it is made well, and the effects, lighting and camerawork is all good, but unfortunately it is a film that fails at its basic function.
This film is very much par for the course. It is an average 21st century horror film, filled with jump scares and cheap thrills rather than actual tension or an attempt to create genuine fear. I should have known that this would be the case when I went to see the film, but I feel like the first two Conjuring films are well made and scary films and so I had higher hopes than maybe I should have. But it is not terrible, it is fine, and I don't regret seeing it. It was a decent way to spend an hour and a half. There is clearly an audience for this kind of film as well as it is doing well. If you are someone who enjoys films filled with jump scares, then this film will do the job for you and you'll have a good time with it. But for me it wasn't the best and despite not regretting seeing it I also feel like I'll forget almost all about it in a week or two.