This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.
The Nun 2 is the latest entry in the Conjuring universe which sees the return of the evil nun Valak pitted up against Taissa Farmiga’s Sister Irene once again. With Jonas Bloquet returning as Maurice, Bonnie Aarons returning as Valak, and Storm Reid as Debra, The Nun 2 picks up four years after the events of the first and expands the lore of the characters.
The Conjuring franchise has been going on for 10 years now which is quite impressive. I’ve really appreciated the world-building that has taken place in these movies as they transcend time and locations. Valak the Nun has become a horror icon thanks to Bonnie Aarons and she does not fail here at all.
One of my biggest takeaways from this movie is that we got to see more of her looking creepy as all hell. I felt like she was able to do a lot more and we got to see Valak at her most sinister. The jumpscares are what they are, but her first scene proved her to be nothing short of a terror.
On the same note, Farmiga has nailed her character of Sister Irene. Her arc going from a girl who isn’t sound with her faith to becoming the church’s only hope in stopping Valak has been entertaining to follow. Bloquet has a very charming role in this movie, even if I really don’t like the story structure of The Nun 2. Storm Reid never felt out of place and I liked that her character not only helped develop Farmiga’s character but got her own little character arc.
The scares are what you’d expect from this franchise, but they got me on a handful of times. I always appreciate movies that give their antagonist a good amount of screen time and The Nun 2 did that for me. Also, I really liked how they expanded the locations for the sequel. We had our main location being a French prep school, but Farmiga and Reid got to travel to some new, great-looking places that just added to the world-building.
I have a couple of major critiques of this movie though. For starters, I really wish these movies took bigger leaps and tried new things. The story progresses exactly how you’d expect. The timing of the jumpscares are all very forecasted and they all play out the same outside of a select few.
I personally do not like when movies try to tell a mystery story while simultaneously showing you the resolution the entire time. If you saw the first Nun, it ends with Maurice being possessed/inhabited by Valak. The story follows Irene and Debra trying to find Valak while showing us that Maurice brought Valak to where he is working and she is haunting it. I think this way of storytelling takes away the impact of when they realize Valak is in Maurice. If we found out with Irene and Debra, I feel like the conclusion has much more emotional weight to it.
Final Thoughts
I appreciate the Nun 2 adding more of a mystery/detective element to the story. But even with that added wrinkle, The Nun 2 really doesn’t do much more to stand out from the rest of this franchise. However, I enjoyed watching this movie and a lot of that is due to its performances. It’s slightly better than the first in my opinion but I hope with the post-credit tease, the next entry brings us closer to the first Conjuring.
