The Nun
Director: Corin Hardy
Writer: Gary Dauberman
Prequel to/Spin-Off from: The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2
Cast: Demián Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons, Ingrid Bisu, Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Lili Taylor
Seen on: 4.10.2018
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Plot:
After the suicide of a nun there, Father Burke (Demián Bichir), an exorcist weighed down by his past, is sent to Romania to investigate her suicide and to figure out if something more is going on. By his side is the novitiate Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) who had visions that might relate to the incident. As they arrive at the convent in the middle of nowhere, they find that there is more to the suicide and to the convent itself than they had anticipated.
As a fan of the Insidious and Conjuring movies, I wanted to see The Nun, but I have to admit that it can’t quite keep up with this films. It’s an okay horror film, but I just expected a little more.
The Nun is a decent film, absolutely. It’s never boring and ties nicely into the Conjuring/Insidious universe that has been established so far, without overdoing the connection between the films. It has some nice effects, too.
But the film just isn’t particularly scary – and that is very much unlike Insidious/Conjuring. It’s also a pretty damning state of affairs for a horror film. I mean, to be fair, not all horror films set out to scare, but The Nun tries to – and falls flat. It just felt a little too “been there, seen that” to conjure (hehe) up the necessary tension and atmosphere to become really scary.
That the film doesn’t work isn’t the fault of the cast. They do good work, but both Burke and Irene are a little too much standard characters to really fly off the page. They aren’t unlikable, just not very interesting. The only one who comes a bit more alive is Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) in his function as comic relief – he really is very entertaining.
Overall I didn’t mind having seen The Nun, but I really can’t say that I loved it or that it could fulfill the expectations I had from the rest of the (loose) series of films. I’d rather watch those again in any case.
Summarizing: Okay.
