‘THE NUN II’ REVERTS BACK TO ITS ORIGINS

In 2013, horror fans across the world were gifted with “The Conjuring” from Director James Wan, and subsequently a new movie universe was born – and it quickly became a classic. From that one film, seven more films were spun. One of the most notable: “The Nun.”

The first Nun film, following the frightening demonic entity that takes form as a grotesque nun, differed greatly from the original Conjuring film. That could be expected, considering it came out five years after Wan’s work and was created by a different director, Corin Hardy. Despite the way it strayed from the classic film, it was still a good product. It was mysterious, visually stunning, and kept the viewer on the edge of their seat.

[Disclaimer: potential spoilers for “The Nun” and “The Nun II” ahead.]

The first Nun film followed a renowned exorcist, Father Burke, and a novice named Irene on their journey to Romania – where they were sent by the Vatican to investigate a nun who died by a gruesome “suicide” at her convent (but we as viewers saw at the beginning of the movie was not exactly the case). The pair are taken through a journey of twists and turns to discover that the convent was infiltrated by the demonic nun, and at the end, Irene saves the day and finally takes her vows.

Well, the viewer is led to believe she saved the day…

As we find out in The Nun II, the demon was able to escape by possessing Maurice, the supply delivery man who had discovered the “suicide” at the beginning of the first film. He had followed Irene and Father Burke throughout their journey in the first film and plays an integral role in the second.

Now, what I find interesting is the contrast between the first film and the second from a visual and storytelling perspective. We are not told very much about Irene in the first film, other than the fact she is a novice and experiences prophetic dreams and visions. In the new, second film, we are given some glimpses into her past, as well as pieces of why she was sent to the convent in the first place. I appreciate that we get to see a lot of growth from Irene in this sequel.

From a visual standpoint, and overall storytelling perspective, I find that the second film really takes on more of the qualities that were present in The Conjuring than the first Nun-offshoot film did. For example, the color scheme of this second Nun film has a very similar “neutral, organic” feel to it. There are many more characters involved in the second Nun film than the first that felt almost like a nod to The Conjuring, such as the girls at the boarding school – it felt like a parallel to the siblings in Wan’s original movie.

Overall, I’d give this film a solid 3.5/5 stars. It’s thrilling, engaging, and pays homage to the very roots of The Conjuring universe, as a whole.