The Nun

The Nun

Starring Taissa Farmiga, Demian Bichir, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons

Directed by Corin Hardy

The Story:
In a monastery in Romania in 1952, an evil spirit haunts the nuns and the town itself, which sees the monastery as a curse rather than a blessing.  After a nun kills herself, the Vatican sends in Father Burke (Demian Bichir) to investigate, and they suggest bringing in nun-in-training Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) as well.  Upon arriving in Romania, they meet townsman Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), who found the body, and after entering the monastery, they're hunted and stalked relentlessly by the evil nun known as Valak (Bonnie Aarons), who threatens to escape the monastery and wreak havoc on the world.

The Synopsis:
"The Conjuring" films have been pretty much major hits (with the exception of "Annabelle," but even that movie had some major scares).  "The Nun"- the latest installment in "The Conjuring" universe - doesn't rise to the heights of the first two "Conjuring" films or "Annabelle: Creation," but still serves up some major scares set in an atmospheric landscape that hearkens back to classic Gothic horror.

Taissa Farmiga (sister of Vera, who plays Lorraine Warren in "The Conjuring" films) plays Sister Irene, a girl who wants to be a nun, and who is sent by the Vatican to investigate the haunting, along with Father Burke, played by Oscar-nominee Demian Bichir.  Bichir basically serves as the adult in the room, who has a dark past that's somewhat explained but not really, and isn't given much more to work with.  Likewise, Taissa isn't given a whole lot to work with either, as the majority of her performance focuses on her frightened expressions and innocent looks.  Neither character is fully flushed out in a way that makes them more than one-dimensional, and is one of the greatest issues I had with the film.

The other issue I had dealt with, basically, the whole point of the film in the first place.  The nun spirit that haunted Lorraine Warren in "The Conjuring 2" was downright frightening, but trying to give her a backstory seemed like a concept that wasn't fully thought through before announcing it - basically, it seems like the producers saw that the second "Conjuring" film was doing well, and people were intrigued by the nun, so they figured why not give her her own spinoff?  Unfortunately, in doing so, they didn't really do a good job at giving her a story in the first place - in essence, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  It's like they stretched a story that could've lasted twenty minutes into a full blown feature film, and just padded it with scares and frights.

Still, the whole point of the film is to induce horror in the hearts of the audience, and this is where the film truly shines.  There's several jump scares that occur in ways that aren't cheap or used because they know the film isn't scary, but rather they just enhance the terror going on.  From start to finish, there's some beautiful scares that sent chills through my spine, due to fantastic camera work, excellent use of lighting, and a constant fear that something is going to happen at any moment.  It's kind of funny to see these characters going through what they did, because I put myself in their shoes - I wouldn't have lasted the first night let alone keep investigating.  They're put through the ringer, and so are we - to the point where we don't care as much about the actual story going on, but rather excited to see what scares will come at us next.

The ending of the film does do a good job at tying itself into the whole "Conjuring" universe, which makes me believe they actually DID have an idea of this film long before "The Conjuring 2," and it's a very cerebral, thought-provoking way to end a film that seemingly didn't have a direction in the first place.

The Summary:
Despite having seemingly having a cohesive storyline and multi-leveled characters, "The Nun" does succeed in giving us some genuine thrills and chills that serves as an exciting horror film where you never know what the next scare will be.

The Score: A