The Nun Movie Review
Director: Corin Hardy
Starring: Taissa Farmiga, Demian Bichir, Bonnie Aarons, Jason Bloquet
Release Date: 7th September 2018
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
It is challenging for a movie to bore you with the crisp runtime of just one hour thirty-six minutes, but The Nun has managed to do it. The Nun stars Taissa Farmiga, Demian Bichir as a Catholic Novice Sister Irene, and a priest Father Burke respectively. The film’s plot revolves around an investigation of the unholy event that occurred in 1952 Romania.
The Nun is the fifth movie in the massively successful “The Conjuring” Universe and can be considered as a spinoff movie of “The Conjuring 2”. Bonnie Aarons, who first appeared as the freighting Nun in “The Conjuring 2”, has reprised her role in the Nun as well. The promise shown in the previous movie went down the drain as The Nun is an excruciatingly dull and disappointing movie. You expect more from James Wan, who is considered as a modern master of Horror by many.
The story revolves around two primary characters as mentioned above and a side character, who is only present in the movie for providing ill-timed comic relief which comes off cheesy one-liners. Sister Irene and Father Burke find themselves in the old crumbling castle, located in a small abbey in Romania after being ordered by the Vatican. The reason for including Sister Irene in the quest is unclear, and the backstory of Father Burke is laughable. Both were accompanied by Frenchie, the only English speaking character played by Jason Bloquet. The reason for Frenchie to be involved in the premise is puzzling.
The screenplay of the movie is uneven. The exposition-heavy backstory of the demon is the only satisfying part of the narrative. The small abbey is portrayed as the last line of defense for humanity against the evil who was brought from hell by the original resident of the castle. The evil demon was dormant but the bombs of WWII has affected the castle, and the demon has awakened.
The choices made by the characters throughout the film are inexplicable. Without going into the spoilers, here is an example: Father Burke, who tries to chase down a boy from the past in a fog-covered cemetery, was buried down alive out of nowhere. Sister Irene rescued Father Burke, and everyone acted as nothing happened. They were back to work the next morning. Ridiculous. I wished this was the only logical flaw in the narrative, but there were plenty throughout the movie.
Even after you accept the fact that the movie does not have a solid screenplay; as a moviegoer, you will find other staple elements of the horror movie equally bad. The camera work is shoddy. The haunted nature of the castle is okay, but the background score failed to match the set-design. The only trick left was the scary scenes, but when the jump scares became predictable, the movie was unsalvageable.
The biggest disappointment in the movie is the lack of screen time for the Nun. After twenty-five minutes in the film, you see the Bonnie Aarons for the first time. Until the climax, the movie never seems to focus on the evil of Sister Valak, the Nun.
Lower your expectation; you may find it watchable. The Nun is by far the weakest entry of The Conjuring universe. It will not be remembered as one of the better movies in the successful franchise.
My Ratings:
Not Recommended, The Nun is a bore.
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