Haunting theaters as of Sept. 8, “The Nun II” is something straight out of a nightmare. With terrifying imagery of a nun with piercing eyes and bloodied teeth, this film petrified audience members present at its opening night.
The film takes place at a Catholic boarding school in France during the 1950s. Living inside this school is an unholy entity who seeks an ancient relic, creating death and wickedness along the way. Upon realizing that the demon is back for vengeance (following the 2018 film “The Nun”), the church cardinal reaches out to the only nun who has encountered this evil spirit before: Sister Irene.
Sister Irene is played by actress Taissa Farmiga, most commonly known for her various roles in the T.V. series “American Horror Story.” Alongside Farmiga, we saw other stars like Storm Reid (known for her role in “Euphoria”), Bonnie Aarons (several roles within ‘The Conjuring universe’) and Anna Popplewell (known for her roles in “The Chronicles of Narnia”).
This film is the ninth installment in “The Conjuring” universe, in which we have seen other films like “The Conjuring,” “Annabelle” or “The Curse of La Llorona.” Although “The Nun II” succeeded in being suspenseful, it is not the best film in the franchise. As of Sept. 8, this film scored a 53% tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, which seems accurate in my opinion.
Although I watched some of this film behind the comfort of my hands, there were some aspects which threw me off. The first being a moment of uncontrollable laughter. Later on in the film, there is a goat-like monster who is said to be the devil, and one of the students sees the goat and screams. For me, the sequencing of this scene created laughter and I suddenly lost my fear of the monster.
The end of the film was also quite confusing. It left me wondering ‘what’s going to happen next?’ It did not feel like a cliffhanger, but more like a muddy ending to a sub-series within the The Conjuring world.
Will the Nun return for vengeance? Or did sister Irene banish her for good? Try going to the theater to answer this question for yourself (if you dare).