Billed as the sequel toThe Conjuring 2spin-off prequel (ugh!),The Nun IIdrops on September 8 to a passively interested fan base. Horror enthusiasts didn’t know they were interested in yet more of the history of the years taking place before theConjuringproper (they weren’t). Producer James Wan expects to bring Valak the Nun’s story full circle and tie it back intoThe Conjuringuniverse.
As scattered as the film franchise appears to be – not to mention the time between series releases – this seems unlikely. Horror sequel falls into bad habits (get it? Nuns?). We’ll expose why viewers don’t need or want another flick in this long-running series.
A Catch-22 Scenario?
With a trailer sporting a jump-scare waiting to be heckled,The Nun 2finds itself in a predicament. Based on cheap frights as displayed by the teaser, the catch-22 scenario of the secondNunfinds Taissa Farmiga playing novitiate-turned-sister Irene. However, the younger sibling of her real-life sister, Vera Farmiga, Taissa’s character, can at times be indistinguishable from Vera’s character, Lorraine Warren, which can lead to confusion not just on the part of the viewer but especially long-time fanatics.
Vera Farmigaand Taissa Farmigaare sisters in real life, but inThe ConjuringUniverse, they have no relation up to this point, and thus far, their parallels have been coincidental. But their similarities lead one to wonder if the director simply wanted a Vera clone to fill in for the prequels, though an eventual connection between the two has to be revealed at some point, right? This muddled plot convolution attempting to include too many prequels and sequels leads to a confusing execution, a la DC’s Extended Universe.
Irene, played by such a young actor as Taissa Farmiga, visually seems to be Lorraine’s daughter, yet in real life, she’s Vera’s sibling. The two parallel character story arcs and similarity in style to theConjuringandNunfranchises lead to difficulty differentiating the two. The only saving grace to separate the series is the fact that theNunseries takes place in the 50s whileConjuringis later in the 80s. And although it’s difficult to fathom how the cross-series characters will fit in (perhaps a flash-forward sequence?)The Nun 2will reportedly include all prior characters from all of theConjuringUniverse films based on the IMDb casting.
To complicate matters further, this rehash of the firstNunfilm appears to retread ground already covered in the first film: a mysterious death prompts officials in the Vatican to dispatch a priest and novitiate in an attempt to uncover the possibility of demonic intervention. As the story takes place contemporaneouslywithThe Conjuringfranchiseas a whole (supposedly), the fate of the characters is possibly already known, and no true peril exists.
Related:The Nun II Aims to Deliver ‘Full Circle’ Connection to The Conjuring, James Wan Reveals
Nails in the Coffin
There may be a lot riding on the success of tying the entire franchise together, but it’s been released by prominent news outlets recently that during a recent preview, a few audience members fired up their phones halfway through. It’s not a great sign for anyone hoping for a gripping experience. Although director Micheal Chaves has obviously poured his heart and soul into the project by creating jump-scares thatnearly gave him a heart attack, ifTheNun II(or was itNun: Relic?) doesn’t deliver, this will be the final nail in the coffin of the franchise.
Regardless of the fact that Warner Bros.is banking on quite a satisfying opening, it would appear that last-minute changes could tank the earlier efforts. The most transparent indicator that director Micheal Chaves was fumbling was the frantic attempt to change advertising campaigns from the first wave of commercials depicting the film asThe Nun: Relic.
Related:The Nun II: Valak Runs Amok in New ‘Relic’ Teaser From The Conjuring Universe.
What It Boils Down To
In 2018,The Nunwas released as the official fifth installment in theConjuringhorror franchise, starting withThe Conjuringin 2013 and continuing withConjuring 2,Anabelle, andAnnabelle:Creation. It’s worth noting that, ultimately, horror fanatics don’t need another installment in this decade-old series. Why? Because the canonConjuringcharacters have already run their course inThe Nun.That film has already been made, andThe Nun 2can’t possibly expand upon theConjuringuniverse any further.
Aside from these discrepancies, there lies the shortcomings of Valak’s motives. The titular Nun – in particular – has tremendously thin motivation. She’s evil because she’s a demon and wants to be an evil demon. Brilliant. While theNun 2could have given backstory to the Nun herself, it chooses not to.
The backstory forThe Nun 2as it relates to theConjuringseries as a whole is so messy that it’s hard to decide what’s darker – the cinematography by Tristan Nyby or the infantile dreck that the plot dishes up while attempting to instill terror. Although it claims to serve as a sequel toThe Nun(2018) and the ninth installment inThe ConjuringUniverse franchise, consideringThe Nunwas already filmed, released, and reviewed five years ago, this additional sequel to aConjuringprequel ofThe Nun IIis not only extraneous and unnecessary – it makes Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema come across as rather cynical.
