Film Review - The Nun II
Images courtesy of Warner Bros.
A full decade after the first film solidified James Wan's career, the Conjuring films have - and continue to be - a staple of the modern horror landscape. Even since he stepped back into the producer role, they've shown no signs of slowing down. There's now numerous spin-offs for two fan-favourite demons (Annabelle got a trilogy before The Conjuring had its third film), then there's The Curse of La Llorona, a film that joined the universe whether we wanted it to or not, and from the rubble rose Michael Chaves. Just two years after making his feature debut in Curse, he took up the mantle and directed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Widely considered to be lacking in quality compared to Wan's previous entries, it seemed odd when Warner Bros. decided to keep him on for yet another go around in this year's The Nun II. But could he redeem himself in the eyes of horror fans yet?
Set four years after the first film, we find ourselves at a French boarding school as Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) is called back into action - like some kind of holy John Wick - to stop the mischievous demon Valak from running amok again. Joining her is Sister Debra (Storm Reid) and old accomplice Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet). In a similar fashion to The Pope's Exorcist, we have a pretty stock standard plot, complete with questions of faith, religious artifacts, and other assorted biblical lore, but taken to the most fantastical extent a film like this can go to without completely untethering the audience's suspension of belief. Despite the by-the-numbers story, it's kept from feeling stale by solid acting and writing, a decent amount of credit I'm willing to give to Akela Cooper's contributions to the screenplay, and while the film doesn't reach the campy highs of Cooper's previous work on Malignant or M3GAN, it does enough heavy lifting even when the editing or Chaves' direction begin to flounder.
While I would easily call this the best of Chaves' work, it's down to a flip of the coin as to whether the scares are pulled off in a way that's boring or effective. Certain creative setpieces - like one where the Nun begins to materialise through a rack of newspapers as their pages are flipped through by a gust of wind - feel like they undercut the concept by lingering too long on the visual spectacle. Granted, I was actually pleasantly surprised with most of the execution of the horror, and while it may not be particularly chilling, there's a certain playfulness to the build, misdirection, and subsequent scare, as Bonnie Aarons clearly delights in her role as Valak. Maybe my expectations were low considering my dislike of the franchise's recent entries, but The Nun II surprised me with how tasteful its sensibilities were, enough that I'd consider this to be the minimum standard the Conjuring universe should aspire to, if the mid-credits scene is to be believed.
While The Nun II isn't exactly breathing new life into the genre, horror fans should find themselves satisfied, offering a course correction after the first entry underwhelmed. It may not be the most memorable experience, but as we near ever closer to the Halloween season, I find myself embracing its particular brand of popcorn horror.
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The Nun II is screening from Thursday 7th September. For tickets and more info, click here.