Popcorn remained in my hands as I sat in the theatre watching The Nun (2018). I didn’t scream, I hardly jumped, and I found myself laughing.
The movie, defined as a prequel to The Conjuring series, was full of jump scares and suspenseful music, but it lacked that terrifying aspect that makes viewers stay awake at night watching the door. I love when horror movies truly terrify me to my core, and The Nun did fall a little short, but I was not completely disappointed.
The movie begins with a young nun at a sequestered abbey in Romania taking her own life. Shortly after the incident a priest with a haunted past and a young novitiate with supernatural visions are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Soon, they uncover the abbey’s demonic secret.
They risk their lives, their faith, and their very souls, as they confront a demonic presence in the form of the nun who made its first appearance in The Conjuring 2.
Taissa Farmiga plays the novitiate, and happens to be the younger sister of Vera Farmiga, who plays Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring movies. Demian Bichir and Jonas Bloquet also star in the movie as the priest and young villager.
Their acting is rather believable and worthy of notice, but the plot lacked the cohesiveness of ideas and the steadiness of pace the previous Conjuring movies had. The Nun seemed like it was trying too hard to scare viewers and for some reason it just wasn’t well executed.
In The Conjuring 2, I found myself terrified of the Nun; she gave me this creepy, cold and demonic feel even through the television, but as I sat in the theatre watching her origin story, I was more scared of the tense music than the actual antagonist.
During opening weekend, the movie grossed $54 million at the box office, so many fellow movie goers did enjoy the movie, though it was not equal or superior to either Conjuring movies.
On Rotten Tomatoes the movie had a 46 percent overall rating from audiences, and on IMDb it received a 5.8 out of 10 review. Obviously, the movie is not worthy of an Oscar nomination, but it was worth the effort and time to watch. Don’t expect to scream or to shield your eyes with your favorite blanket, but simply relax and sit down on your couch and enjoy the decent flick.