She’s still got it
Unlike most horror franchises, the world that houses The Conjuring chapters shows multiple levels of depth. It isn’t the same harrowing character out to kill victims, it isn’t the same protagonist year after year (though the names of Ed and Lorraine Warren have become pop culture lore). And while it’s hard to offer a new version of “horror,” The Nun II shows remarkable expertise in what we’ve all come to expect from the genre.
The synopsis of The Nun II is clear-cut: In 1956 France, a priest is violently murdered, and Sister Irene begins to investigate. She once again comes face-to-face with a powerful evil.
(But in all honesty, the Church forces Sister Irene to face it. She is, quite literally, asked to perform “another miracle.”)
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If you remember from The Nun, (and spoiler alert if you don’t or didn’t watch it), Valak attached herself to the soul of Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet). And apparently, Valak has been choosing when to use Frenchie to attack, and all of this comes reaches its climax as he’s working at an all girls’ boarding school. When Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) figures this out, she’s left with an unfair decision to make.
Sister Irene is much more confident this time around, knowing first-hand that faith is her ultimate protector. And she hopes that her partner, sent-to-a-safer-life-in-the-church and doubtful-yet-curious Sister Debra (Storm Reid), figures this out before it’s too late.
The Nun II also offers a deeper understanding of Sister Irene’s past, which is essential in defeating Valak. Through some pretty effective flashbacks and Easter eggs, the audience finds out that there’s much more to her than her habit and penchant for the demonic.
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But a story is just a story. So what makes The Nun II such a great addition to the horror genre, especially when we already know the cinematic and audio cues that tell us: “Hey, she’s coming; get ready to be scared?”
It’s because The Nun II presents itself a master of the buildup. There’s a particularly eerie scene in the middle of a French street—abandoned and cobble-stoned, of course—where Sister Irene stares as the magazines in front of her flip their pages. You know, of course, that the magazines will eventually present Valak’s image to her, but it drags on just long enough to surprise you.
It should be said, too, that the way Valak is imagined through the most mundane objects, is enough to make me not want to look at anything too hard.
In The Nun II, Valak’s powers also mean strange little visions. Her victims (and us an audience) will get a little too familiar with a dead little altar boy who died in a chapel, a should-be dead principal who chases down her students and characters who have an illogical attraction to a locked up area in the boarding school.
If you’re thinking of watching The Nun II, you probably already know what you’re getting yourself into—and you might be right. But don’t for a second think that this is a cheap addition to The Conjuring universe, or that you’ll walk out of the cinema with your head held high because you’re too brave for the horror genre.
“The Nun II” is currently showing in cinemas.
Art Matthew Ian Fetalver
