The Nun II (2023)

Director: Michael Chaves

Starring: Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons, Storm Reid

Primary genre: Horror

Secondary genre: Supernatural

Third genre: Gothic

The terrifying Nun introduced herself/himself/themselves(?) in James Wan’s lesser effective “Conjuring” sequel in 2016. Yet, the demon Valak was easily the most memorable element, a fantastically designed horror character who was visually arresting and frankly, disturbing. Like Annabelle before this demon, its effectiveness lied in its infrequent appearances and minimal use of CGI.

This is Hollywood though baby and it makes sense to completely milk this horror well dry so why not offer two separate franchises for both Annabelle and Valak? Annabelle boasts three flicks that really do not add anything to its mythology (although “Annabelle: Creation” (2017) was well done) while Valak counts two entries so far (“The Nun” (2018), “The Nun II” (2023)). Although the first spin off this demonic religious mocker was hugely successful at the box office, it wasted its intriguing premise by featuring banal characters, cheap scares and an over-produced atmosphere of doom which was contradicted by modern dialogue despite being set in the 50s. Its sequel continues to dilute Valak’s air of mysteriousness through a convoluted story of Saints and powerful relics that has more in common with Indiana Jones than full fledged supernatural horror. This is not your 70s religious horror outlet for sure.

You can’t fault though the filmmakers for trying something different. However, at the hands of Michael Chaves (who did the absolutely awful “The Curse of the Llorona” (2019)), this is nothing but a snoozefest. Lacking of any substance and memorable scenes, entire sequences here have been seen in a much better form in other films. The environment could have been utilized better to invoke a more ominous tone but Chaves is not interested in setting up dread despite some ok production design (resembling visually the work of Renny Harlin’s “Exorcist: The Beginning” (2004)).

The script shoehorns a travelling demon (I bet the next installment will take place in Spain) to tie the film’s events eventually with “The Conjuring 2” and thus, putting itself into a corner unable to escape from the scathing criticisms for its glaring plot holes. The constant retrospectively story fitting seems more like a goal rather than to present a complete film that can stand in its own merits. Cursed by the disadvantages of cinematic universes, what was fresh is now rotten scaring only cute puppies and kittens but even those will fall asleep in the tedious final confrontation. Any efforts of the cast are undermined by horror standard (and expository) dialogue although the Maurice’s character is the biggest offender feeling out of place and way too modern with a coming-and-leaving French accent.

“The Nun II” is really a film for the hardcore enthusiasts or first time newbies. They might find it scary but it is an easily consumed firework that offers nothing novel or remotely intriguing. It is a movie plagued by association with the much superior first two “Conjuring” films (2013-2016).

Scare free sequel

+Setting

+Valak remains a superb horror design

-…that is reaching parodic levels in execution

-Zero scares

-Banal atmosphere

-Directionless product