The Nun Movie Review

The Nun is the latest installment from The Conjuring franchise. It was released with a lot of hype. But is it worth a watch? Read our review to find out!

Cast: Demian Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet
Director: Corin Hardy
Producer(s): Peter Safran, James Wan
Story By: James Wan, Gary Dauberman
Duration: 96 mins

Synopsis

In 1952 Romania, two nuns are attacked by a not so visible presence. One nun manages to survive but ends up committing suicide. Her corpse is discovered by Frenchie(Jonas Bloquet) – the man who deliveries supplies to the abbey.

The Vatican learns about this this & sends Father Burke(Demian Bichir) to investigate. He takes Sister Irene(Taissa Farmiga) along with him. It is later revealed that Frenchie is a French Canadian man who has made Romania his home & Sister Irene has “visions”. Sister Irene is a yet to take her final vows – she is a novitiate. Frenchie escorts them to the Abbey. Upon reaching The Abbey, they encounter the Abbess who asks them to stay the night at a nearby convent.

A series of spooky incidents occur with all the three characters facing the backlash of the demons who reside in the godforsaken place. While Frenchie runs away, Father Burke & Sister Irene decide to investigate further. As expected this leads to a series of ghastly & horrific incidents. There are several twists to the story. But are Sister Irene & Father Burke able to survive? Does Frenchie come back to rescue them? Do Sister Irene & Frenchie live happily ever after or does she become a nun? You will have to watch the movie to find out.

Strengths

The movie is part of the hit Conjuring franchise. James Wan is probably the best horror filmmaker ever! One shouldn’t forget that he has written & produced this flick. The movie does bear his stamp in terms of the writing & the cinematography. One is reminded of the dark shots of The Conjuring movies. There are very few brightly lit scenes owing to the premise. Young Taissa Farmiga – sister of series regular Vera Farmiga is good & so are Demian Bichir & Jonas Bloquet. But the movie doesn’t rest on their shoulders alone. The supporting cast plays a very important role. The movie relies heavily on sound & visual effects. There are enough spooky scenes to make a horror movie buff happy.

Weakness

The movie’s strength of being part of a blockbuster horror franchise, is also its weakness. It suffers from the weight of expectations around it. Following a marketing blitzkrieg which preceded the movie’s release, the movie has been unable to impress the audiences. The reviews have been mixed. While the movie is not in the league of The Conjuring 1 & 2, it no letdown either. Fans of the franchise will remember that The Annabelle movie wasn’t well received either. But it went on to do well at the box office & even spawned a sequel. Had this movie been a standalone horror movie audiences would have definitely liked it better. But when you compare it to The Conjuring movies you will be disappointed. The movie has faced criticism for relying heavily on jump scenes. We believe that criticism is unwarranted.

If you go to watch the movie with reasonable expectations you will be happy. If you watch it post benchmarking The Conjuring movies, you will be disappointed. We suggest you watch it at a theatre near you & not rely on reviews available elsewhere!

Our Rating: (4 / 5)