The Nun

2018 • 96 minutes

About this movie

When a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a priest (Demian Bichir) with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows (Taissa Farmiga) are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Together they uncover the order’s unholy secret. Risking not only their lives but their faith and their very souls, they confront a malevolent force in the form of the same demonic nun that first terrorized audiences in “The Conjuring 2,” as the abbey becomes a horrific battleground between the living and the damned.

Ratings and reviews

I don't get the negative reviews of this movie. I am a huge James Wan fan. Seen every film he has made. This is a departure from his usual. To me what makes this film good is the creepiness of the atmosphere. The dark abbey. The dark nuns. Always a disturbing dark set. And, as like other James Wan movies, pay attention to the background. Subtle creepy occurrences. Not his scariest flick but entertaining.

This inferior prequel to The Conjuring 2 starts out quite well, with some incredibly creepy shots and ideas. But once the Frenchman (erm, French-Canadian) hits the woods going back home, it begins to overstay its welcome and become tiresome. More loud noises than actual scares haunt this picture. Too many ideas are left barely explored. Tonal inconsistencies also abound, with an attempt at Evil Dead style quipping near the end that seems totally out of place. Still, you could do much worse. I'd recommend it for the gloriously creepy first 20 minutes and then you can shut it off. Also, on a side note, as somebody with an interest in 20th century history, I did find it quite bizarre how absolutely NO mention of Romania's system of government, at the time, was made in the picture. Why would COMMUNIST Romania allow a priest and nun into its country? Why would it allow American music to play on its radios? Why would it not just demolish such a troublesome church and imprison the (seemingly) loony nuns? Not really important, just puzzling.

I had the same problem with The Nun as I had with all previous installments in this series. I feel as if the directors lay out a false promise of a much deeper richer universe that ever actually gets portrayed in each individual movie. Like a lot of movies these days, they have a very much James Patterson novel feel to them. Not a lot of depth, yet some how you find yourself mildly entertained enough to continue watching/reading until it's finale.