The Reel Review
Four years after battling an evil demon at a convent in Romania, Sister Irene must again face-off against the same supernatural entity – this time, at a boarding school in 1956 France where a priest has been gruesomely killed. Taissa Farmiga stars in this gothic supernatural sequel to the 2018 horror/thriller The Nun.
Thanks to a horrendously bad prior film, this sequel had an extremely low bar to cross. And now three-time Conjuring Universe director Michael Chaves (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Curse of La Llorona) does it with ease, with a surprisingly solid story, clever camerawork and spooky visuals.
Although Farmiga stars, with Storm Reid (Missing) joining her as a reluctant novitiate, most of the screen time goes to Jonas Bloquet, as Sister Irene’s lifesaving pal Frenchie who unknowingly picked up our evil hitchhiker at the end of their last demon run-in, and Katelyn Rose Downey, as Sophie, the sweet daughter of Frenchie’s romantic interest. Seeing the demon turn the tables on poor Sophie’s mean girl bullies is pretty satisfying.
Other than the really loud, requisite jump scares, The Nun II is more of a silly haunted house thrill ride than the stuff of nightmares. The third act has an exhausting amount of action more reminiscent of an Indiana Jones movie, although Farmiga does a fine job going all exorcist on Valak’s ass. The Nun II is cinematic fast food for horror fans – tasty fun but forgettable.
REEL FACTS
• The Nun II was filmed at the Couvent des Prêcheurs in Aix-en-Provence, France, a 15th century convent and school.
• The demon Valak in the Conjuring films is VERY loosely based on the demon mentioned in the mid-1600s who was depicted as an angelically winged boy riding a two-headed dragon, who possessed the ability to find treasures.
• Taissa Farmiga got into acting at the urging of her older sister, Vera Farmiga, who has played Lorraine Warren in four Conjuring Universe films: 2013’s The Conjuring, 2016’s The Conjuring 2, 2019’s Annabelle Comes Home and 2021’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
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