The Nun - 6/10

Directed by Corin Hardy - Written by Gary Dauberman

The Nun is the first film of the conjuring series (chronologically) and it gives a good introduction of the spirit (Valak) that is present in many of the other films in the Conjuring series. We follow the story of a novice nun (Sister Irene) who is called to a monastery in Romania known as, the abbey of Carta. The Vatican church send her and a priest (Father Burke) to the monastery after a nun who stayed there suddenly committed suicide. She was chosen due to the fact that she had a history of having visions; the church believed that this ability might shed light on the underlying evil influencing the monastery.

For those that are interested in watching the conjuring series in chronological order; below is the list:

1. The Nun (1952) - Released 2018

2. The Nun II (1956) - Released 2023

3. Annabelle: Creation (1958) - Released 2017

4. Annabelle (1967) - Released 2014

5. The Conjuring (1971) - Released 2013

6. Annabelle Comes Home (1972) - Released 2019

7. The Conjuring 2 (1977) - Released 2016

8. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (1981) - Released 2021

9. The Conjuring: Last Rites (1986) - Released 2025

It is quite an overwhelming list of films but each film is connected through the true stories of Ed and Lorraine Warren's career as ghost hunters. Although the interpretation of the actual events on film are exaggerated in order to strike more fear into the viewer.

The film revolves around an evil spirit that was released through a gateway that was opened by a duke that was the previous owner of the Monastery. The spirit was contained by the Vatican as they managed to reseal the gateway but the mysterious events that start to occur at the Monastery show that the spirit may have returned. The spirit is known as Valak and it takes the form of the Nun. Its an interesting portrayal of an evil spirit as people view nuns as innocent and holy and Valak represents the opposite of this presumption. The spirit's presence in the Monastery add an unsettling feeling to the viewer as people tend to see churches and Monasteries as a safe place that can protect them from supernatural forces. Her presence there shows that no place is safe and also speaks to the power of the spirit.

Valak's character portrays her power through her confidence as she interacts with the sister and the Priest upon their arrival at the Monastery pretending to be a nun that stays there. It is always interesting when a horror film so confidently in the frightfulness of their "creature" that they are willing to show it in such a candid scene. There is a good display of logic in this scene as the Sister and their guide (Frenchie) are apprehensive about the nun's sudden appearance and her creepy demeaner. By far the worst character for me has to be Father Burke, because his character lacks the logic that the other two characters have and he has poor decision making skills throughout the film. That being said, the characters all seem to get into individual situations that result due to them deciding to split up many times throughout the film. These bad decision making skills are what create many of the scary scenes in the film which gives the impression of lazy writing, as if they would not have been able to bring forward these scary scenes without the characters ending up alone unnaturally.

Besides this the film has a good flow; there is no extended period of exposition, and the investigating and character progression is satisfying. Taissa Farmiga's depiction of sister Irene and her acting throughout is well executed and allows the viewer to feel the fear that she experiences, and develop an interest in her progression. There is not much else to say in terms of acting as there are not many characters in the film but each actor tends to do their job without being insufficient or spectacular, with the exception of father Burke who I struggled to relate to and found that his character was unbelievable (not in the good way).

Sister Irene finds another nun praying in a church but when she attempts to greet her another nun interrupts her and pulls her away from the praying nun stating that she must continue praying perpetually to keep the evil at bay. The presence of the other nuns give the viewer and protagonist a level of comfort; and also provides foreshadowing for the biggest reveal of the film (for me) where Sister Irene realizes that the nuns were never around and it was only her clairvoyant nature that allowed her to see their spirits. This is the most interesting part for me because I know that Lorraine Warren was clairvoyant so it hints at a connection between the two.

Through some investigating and detecting they realize what they have to do, they have to seal the gateway. This realization gives rise to their final bout with Valak. The ending scene is less scary due to the desensitizing that the viewer experiences from the jumpscares throughout the film. The ending is as satisfying as it could be when it comes to supernatural horrors, but it hints at the second film in the final scene.

Most jump scares throughout the film are pretty derivative but there are a few good scares in there. I definitely prefer the type of scare that has enough confidence that it does not have to jump at you off guard and would have expected such from a film such as this. An old creepy Monastery with a demonic nun? there should be more than enough to rely on instead of trying to get cheap scares. All in all, the film is pretty scary with nothing special or terrible in terms of music or cinematography when it comes to a supernatural horror.