The Nun (2018) Review
11:43 AM
The Conjuring universe's darkest chapter?
The Nun was set up perfectly. In fact, the best part of Annabelle: Creation was when it teased this film. James Wan and the rest of the producers rushed The Nun. Little thought was put into the story, leaving a flimsy and insubstantial plot that fails to fill 90 minutes. The Nun does have its scary moments though - I lost count of how many times I jumped - but those frights quickly become repetitive and predictable. I had more interest in this spin-off than I did the Annabelle films; unfortunately, The Nun is as weak as this franchise's first spin-off movie. Warner Bros should rethink this cinematic universe unless all of the entries are directed by the masterful James Wan.
Labelling itself as the 'darkest chapter' in The Conjuring universe, The Nun set high expectations for itself. The darkest chapter in a franchise should dig deeper into the mythology and cinematic world than any previous entry. Other than a messy connection to The Conjuring universe at the end, The Nun adds little. The Nun is simply about a priest, a novice and a guy called Frenchie who investigate the mysterious deaths of nuns at a Romanian convent - there is nothing more to it; The Nun lacks the intellect of The Conjuring films. The plot's simplicity had me questioning whether there was any need for this film, other than it grabbing a load of cash for Warner Bros; Wan already explored The Nun's scarier side in The Conjuring 2 and writer Gary Dauberman couldn't think of a more inspired narrative. To the film's credit, there is some interesting stuff on The Nun's origin: an evil duke summoned the spirit of Valak which was reawakened by the bombs of war. However, Dauberman only scratches the surface, giving the title character minimal development and letting her identity solely rely on fear. The Nun certainly isn't 'The Conjuring' universe's darkest chapter; it's an emperor's new clothes kind of situation.
Father Burke (Bichir), Sister Irene (Farmiga) and Frenchie (Bloquet) lack character development too. Dauberman does that cliche thing where each character has a thin subplot that is expected to be adequate development; Father Burke is haunted by a previous exorcism, Sister Irene is yet to take her vows and Frenchie first discovers the dead nun (and is seemingly in a relationship with Irene?). I am surprised that Gary Dauberman, who wrote an excellent character-based screenplay for It, has delivered a contrary screenplay for The Nun. With It, Dauberman prioritised story over horror, but The Nun is the opposite; the scares are at the centre.
The Nun is full of effective jump scares. I didn't notice this until the recent Screen Junkies honest trailer, but all of the films in The Conjuring universe follow the same formula when it comes to the jump; there is a peculiar sound or figure, a prolonged silence as the character looks for the source and then BAM, everyone jumps out of their skin; it is always effective because the jump comes when it is least expected. Originally fabricated by James Wan in The Conjuring, this structure is now a component of this cinematic universe and Corin Hardy exploits it. Although it remained effective every time, the scares did become repetitive and predictable. It doesn't help that Hardy only had The Nun to scare audiences with and not an array of demons and creatures. Due to its weak narrative, The Nun is often comparable to a horror walkthrough. I'm a fan of scare mazes; they're terrifying while you're experiencing them and guarantee countless jumps. The Nun is the closest a film has come to becoming a cinematic version of a horror maze. There's a particular scene involving a narrow corridor leading towards a door with a demonic message - it's possibly The Nun's scariest sequence. The plot may be thin, but at least The Nun has plenty of scary moments.
Corin Hardy's direction is far from James Wan's adept efforts. Hardy does attempt to mimic Wan's style with a scene that is almost identical to one featured in The Conjuring 2; the shadow of The Nun moves around a chapel before popping up to scare Sister Irene (and the audience). It definitely felt like a discount replica of Wan's haunting scene. At least Corin Hardy directs this film in the same vein as this universe's other directors, even if he doesn't quite excel. Hardy and cinematographer Maxime Alexandre have created a visually bleak film; this style works with the black and white tones mirroring a nun's habit. While the score often adds to the haunting atmosphere, it occasionally felt a little excessive, especially during the final act. This unintentionally led to a lightened tone that made some moments funnier than they were scary. Corin Hardy may be an experienced horror director, but that is his only directing credit. The Nun was a big gig to land for Hardy and he, unfortunately, seemed out of his depth.
Bonnie Aarons is terrifying as The Nun. The film doesn't require her to speak many lines, it relies on her petrifying costume and make-up. It only takes a splash of white face-paint to turn Aarons into The Nun. The casting directors must have seen potential to easily turn Aarons into a horrifying sister; I guess she's can't complain when she is making a living out of standing at the end of dark corridors. Like the rest of The Conjuring universe films, The Nun has some relatively strong performances. Taissa Farmiga ticks all of the boxes for an actress cast in a horror film: she has a great 'scared' face, is convincingly oblivious to the dangers and supernatural threats around her and is likeable enough to hold the film. Farmiga lacks the well-written material to deliver a great performance but is good enough. Jonas Bloquet has some comedic moments towards the end of the film and elicited the laughs he was aiming for. Demian Bichir and his entire subplot felt unnecessary. I would have enjoyed his performance more if his character was more crucial to the narrative.
While I expected The Nun to be one of the franchise's scariest and strongest entries, it actually fights with 2014's Annabelle and is possibly the weakest. Gary Dauberman's screenplay is a non-starter; Wan clearly didn't give him a great story to work with as the end result is a plot that lacks substance and a coherent narrative. The characters are also forgettable; Taissa Farmiga will be remembered for being the sister of Vera Farmiga instead of her character, Sister Irene. Corin Hardy has obviously been studying Wan's work as he creates scary scenes in The Nun that are heavily inspired by moments in the rest of the franchise. The Nun is scary...but that's coming from somebody who finds nuns a little spooky anyway. I guess the fate of this universe lies with The Conjuring 3, Annabelle 3 and The Crooked Man and if the existing films are anything to by, only The Conjuring 3 will be any good.
Labelling itself as the 'darkest chapter' in The Conjuring universe, The Nun set high expectations for itself. The darkest chapter in a franchise should dig deeper into the mythology and cinematic world than any previous entry. Other than a messy connection to The Conjuring universe at the end, The Nun adds little. The Nun is simply about a priest, a novice and a guy called Frenchie who investigate the mysterious deaths of nuns at a Romanian convent - there is nothing more to it; The Nun lacks the intellect of The Conjuring films. The plot's simplicity had me questioning whether there was any need for this film, other than it grabbing a load of cash for Warner Bros; Wan already explored The Nun's scarier side in The Conjuring 2 and writer Gary Dauberman couldn't think of a more inspired narrative. To the film's credit, there is some interesting stuff on The Nun's origin: an evil duke summoned the spirit of Valak which was reawakened by the bombs of war. However, Dauberman only scratches the surface, giving the title character minimal development and letting her identity solely rely on fear. The Nun certainly isn't 'The Conjuring' universe's darkest chapter; it's an emperor's new clothes kind of situation.
Father Burke (Bichir), Sister Irene (Farmiga) and Frenchie (Bloquet) lack character development too. Dauberman does that cliche thing where each character has a thin subplot that is expected to be adequate development; Father Burke is haunted by a previous exorcism, Sister Irene is yet to take her vows and Frenchie first discovers the dead nun (and is seemingly in a relationship with Irene?). I am surprised that Gary Dauberman, who wrote an excellent character-based screenplay for It, has delivered a contrary screenplay for The Nun. With It, Dauberman prioritised story over horror, but The Nun is the opposite; the scares are at the centre.
The Nun is full of effective jump scares. I didn't notice this until the recent Screen Junkies honest trailer, but all of the films in The Conjuring universe follow the same formula when it comes to the jump; there is a peculiar sound or figure, a prolonged silence as the character looks for the source and then BAM, everyone jumps out of their skin; it is always effective because the jump comes when it is least expected. Originally fabricated by James Wan in The Conjuring, this structure is now a component of this cinematic universe and Corin Hardy exploits it. Although it remained effective every time, the scares did become repetitive and predictable. It doesn't help that Hardy only had The Nun to scare audiences with and not an array of demons and creatures. Due to its weak narrative, The Nun is often comparable to a horror walkthrough. I'm a fan of scare mazes; they're terrifying while you're experiencing them and guarantee countless jumps. The Nun is the closest a film has come to becoming a cinematic version of a horror maze. There's a particular scene involving a narrow corridor leading towards a door with a demonic message - it's possibly The Nun's scariest sequence. The plot may be thin, but at least The Nun has plenty of scary moments.
Corin Hardy's direction is far from James Wan's adept efforts. Hardy does attempt to mimic Wan's style with a scene that is almost identical to one featured in The Conjuring 2; the shadow of The Nun moves around a chapel before popping up to scare Sister Irene (and the audience). It definitely felt like a discount replica of Wan's haunting scene. At least Corin Hardy directs this film in the same vein as this universe's other directors, even if he doesn't quite excel. Hardy and cinematographer Maxime Alexandre have created a visually bleak film; this style works with the black and white tones mirroring a nun's habit. While the score often adds to the haunting atmosphere, it occasionally felt a little excessive, especially during the final act. This unintentionally led to a lightened tone that made some moments funnier than they were scary. Corin Hardy may be an experienced horror director, but that is his only directing credit. The Nun was a big gig to land for Hardy and he, unfortunately, seemed out of his depth.
Bonnie Aarons is terrifying as The Nun. The film doesn't require her to speak many lines, it relies on her petrifying costume and make-up. It only takes a splash of white face-paint to turn Aarons into The Nun. The casting directors must have seen potential to easily turn Aarons into a horrifying sister; I guess she's can't complain when she is making a living out of standing at the end of dark corridors. Like the rest of The Conjuring universe films, The Nun has some relatively strong performances. Taissa Farmiga ticks all of the boxes for an actress cast in a horror film: she has a great 'scared' face, is convincingly oblivious to the dangers and supernatural threats around her and is likeable enough to hold the film. Farmiga lacks the well-written material to deliver a great performance but is good enough. Jonas Bloquet has some comedic moments towards the end of the film and elicited the laughs he was aiming for. Demian Bichir and his entire subplot felt unnecessary. I would have enjoyed his performance more if his character was more crucial to the narrative.
While I expected The Nun to be one of the franchise's scariest and strongest entries, it actually fights with 2014's Annabelle and is possibly the weakest. Gary Dauberman's screenplay is a non-starter; Wan clearly didn't give him a great story to work with as the end result is a plot that lacks substance and a coherent narrative. The characters are also forgettable; Taissa Farmiga will be remembered for being the sister of Vera Farmiga instead of her character, Sister Irene. Corin Hardy has obviously been studying Wan's work as he creates scary scenes in The Nun that are heavily inspired by moments in the rest of the franchise. The Nun is scary...but that's coming from somebody who finds nuns a little spooky anyway. I guess the fate of this universe lies with The Conjuring 3, Annabelle 3 and The Crooked Man and if the existing films are anything to by, only The Conjuring 3 will be any good.
44
/100
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