Nobody does flickering lights, slow pans with flashlights and angler fish toothed monsters better than the Conjuring extended universe. The Nun 2 offers nothing new or ground breaking in its genre but delivers a perfectly acceptable popcorn horror to keep the characters circling around our conscious.
The Nun has been in so many of these films, she keeps cropping up, no matter how many times they banish her back to the deaths of hell from whence she came. Even with the stakes of her power being lessened each time she appears, I know what I’m signing up for when I buy a ticket. I’m not looking for deeply introspective and thought provoking cinema, I’m here for the predictable and slow build up to an obvious scare that I still will probably jump at.
The film takes place in the 1950s, in France, with a variety of accents sprinkled throughout, making it France, only in description and architecture. We begin with an old classic of a ball rolling into a dark doorway and then being rolled back out again by a mysterious and coordinated being.
Some quite toasty occurrences lead to Sister Irene being asked to investigate these sightings, having dealt with them before.
We also have Sophie, attending a boarding school with her mum as one of the teachers. We get some cliché school bullies and a further cliché adult who looks after Sophie, taking her under his wing and being there for her when she needs someone to talk to. Maurice is returning from the first film as the connection between all these supernatural occurrences, and the explanation of how the Nun has kept up appearances after her banishment.
Sister Irene and Sister Debra eventually make their way to the school and take the Nun head on to eradicate her powers of demon nunnery for all eternity.
I have no issues with the performances in this film, I think everyone brings what they need to bring to this film, raising the stakes and playing confusion with stark noises pretty well. I think the main issues are the writing for me, leaning on cliches at times that feel a bit like they’re just there to further the runtime and meet expectations. I didn’t feel like they tried too hard with the story, pushing the backstory too far in unnecessarily deep directions. They know people are there to see the Nun, and the Nun is what they’re going to get.
I say that, but she is treated more as a big boss than an immediate threat, her presence is felt throughout and she’s used as a symbol to scare, but in terms of a direct presence, she saves her influence for the final act. I appreciate that they don’t rely on her directly to be the sole scarer and yet keep her around so you understand she is masterminding these spooks.
There are some fun scare setups in this film, whenever they decide to step away from the fluoride lights clinking on and off or the flashlight steadily cutting through the darkness, panning slowly from side to side, waiting for a jump. The unique setups are mostly spoiled in the trailer but are effective either way, with the magazine flipping being one of pure nonsense but still good to watch.
Technically, the film’s look stands up as they create dark environments with atmospheric lighting and some dynamic shot choices along the way. Following its theme that its not exactly breaking the mold with its work but it is effective and didn’t take me out of the narrative.
Watching this with Dolby Atmos felt a bit like this was someone’s first time, really making use of the surrounding speakers, with little to no subtlety involved. There were times when it was used well, with wandering footsteps veering off into different directions, and others where I felt like I was listening to a test of the speakers.
This is a stupid complaint but they love bone cracking and crunching whenever someone demonic moves, at all. In cases where we have creatures doing it, you can understand, but normal possessed people who just five seconds ago, cracked every single bone in their body while turning to look at the protagonist, are suddenly up and walking about. I told you it was a dumb point.
To wrap up, this film serves nothing new to the story of the Nun, their origins or demonic motivations, it is simply just a boost in finances and build hype for more entries. I will continue to watch, because I sometimes enjoy horror that doesn’t emotionally and mentally destroy me, leaving me with deep trauma. I get to watch the Nun scream, men read the bible and confusing choices made by all characters, in all situations.
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