The Nun 2 is the latest addition to The Conjuring universe, and the sequel to The Nun. Creating a successful sequel can be difficult. The filmmakers have to deliver something fresh and exciting, while using the same strategies they used to make the original so great. They have to satisfy their fans and their audience by adding new twists and turns, but they can’t tweak the original plot too much or it can backfire. Sadly, The Nun 2 is just another failed sequel, although it had some great parts to it.
At the end of The Nun, Maurice (Jonas Bloquet) is possessed by Valak (Bonnie Aarons), also known as The Nun. The movie picks up four years later after Sister Irene’s (Taissa Farmiga) first encounter with Valak in 1952. Half of the movie follows Sister Irene and Sister Debra (Storm Reid), who are tasked with following The Nun’s moves. They have to see where the nun is going, why she is doing what she’s doing, how she is here, and overall uncovering the mystery of who she is and her motives.
The other half focuses on Valak, tormenting a boarding school of young girls with her evil presence, which is where Maurice works. Maurice is her vessel, which she enters and leaves as she pleases to unleash her malice without being caught, while simultaneously tormenting him. For the most part, the movie has an engaging story for the audience, which is something that I liked. When the movie focuses on Sister Irene and Sister Debra, it’s like you’re a detective alongside them. You discover new things about the Nun and you yourself start piecing the story together. Now, when Valak torments the little girls in the boarding school, specifically Sophie (Katelyn Rose Downey), it’s cool to see all the things she does to instill fright.
There were a handful of jump scares that were unique. One of the ones I was waiting for was the magazine one that is shown in the trailer. I liked the way the magazines were flipped to create Valek’s face to remind Sister Irene that she wasn’t done creating chaos and it was done very well.
As for the acting, Farmiga and Reid did a great job portraying the brave saviors and Sister Irene stayed true to who we saw in the first movie.
I noticed that with movies in the Conjuring universe, the jump scares are the best component of the movies, and it’s what makes them so good, but for The Nun 2, it wasn’t the case. Sometimes the jump scares were great, but some of them were just loud noises being blasted in the theater to make you jump out of your seat and they weren’t that scary. For example, when the goat was chasing Sister Debra and the girls into their dormitories, you could see its face clearly and it wasn’t scary at all. The goat’s face looked like a cheap mask you’d find at a Halloween store and it was just the loud music that was making the scene scary, if anything I laughed because it looked so fake.
By the time you get to the end of the movie, it is no longer suspenseful or eventful. They rush through the ending and the events don’t align with the storyline. The final fight was a disappointment based on how quick it was over. I didn’t like that either Nun movies did any justice to how scary and powerful the entity was made to be in the Conjuring 2. It makes it seem like there are worse entities in the Conjuring universe and it lands right in the middle, which is ironic given the fact that it disguises itself as a Nun to mock the other nuns’ faith.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate it a 6.5/10. I would recommend the Conjuring 2 over the Nun 2 because Valak is more terrifying in the Conjuring 2. In the Nun 2, you already have an idea of what the Nun is capable of doing, but in the Conjuring 2, she is a mystery. Valak manages to torment the Warrens, which indicates that she has more power than them. It’s shocking to see because the audience is used to Lorraine and Ed having control, but it’s not the case here. We aren’t even aware of Valak’s presence until later on in the movie, so it’s more intriguing to watch as the Warren’s fight to survive against her. Conjuring 2 has more suspense, more detail, and overall a better plot.
