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THE NUN – Review – We Are Movie Geeks

Review

THE NUN – Review

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A foggy, tree-lined graveyard. An old stone abbey sitting atop a hill. A village filled with superstitious residents. An eerie crypt below that holds a dark and dangerous spirit. All of these elements combine to create a tale filled with classic, gothic imagery. While THE NUN may have the look of a spine-tingling tale of mystery and death, the story and characters fail to support the macabre imagery, leading to a hollow and tedious entry in “The Conjuring Universe.”

After an unnecessary opening reminding audiences that this is connected to both CONJURING films (later bookended in a slightly more clever but still unnecessary manner), a nun falls to her death after being pursued by a ghastly spirit later revealed to be the demon Valak. At the time of her death, she held a mysterious key, which, of course, will come into play later. The Vatican calls upon Father Burke (Demián Bichir) who typically investigates cases of miracles to investigate the abbey. They assign him a young novitiate (Taissa Farmiga) who is familiar with the “territory” of the abbey in the Romanian village, although she confesses to the priest she’s never been to Romania. With the help of a guide by the name of “Frenchie,” the two arrive at a mostly abandoned abbey where shadowy figures, strange noises, and ghosts of their past linger around every corner.

Given the fact that Valak was previously introduced in THE CONJURING 2 with little backstory besides the habit of popping out at you when you most expect it (that will be my only nun-pun this review, I promise), THE NUN has very little interest in revealing much about the pale-faced and yellow-eyed villain. Screenwriter Gary Dauberman’s script (who previously wrote ANNABELLE) fails to create a story that’s as engaging as the creepy environment. Taissa’s nun-in-training feels like a weaker version of her real-life sibling Vera Farmiga’s character in THE CONJURING films. She’s even given the same power to see “visions” like THE CONJURING’s Lorraine Warren, but without any connection mentioned in the film. The lazy approach to character building is just as much extended to the dialogue. The morning after our two naive detectives discover where the nun died, the novitiate looks to the priest and says, “Look, there’s more blood.” In a matter-of-fact manner, he mutters, “Another clue.”


After a while, the eye-rolling at lines like these as well as watching the two chase every sound and figure in the corner of their eye becomes a bit tiresome. Even at a brisk 96 mins, THE NUN feels like a drawn-out, haunted tour of the abbey with all its nooks and crannies instead of a suspenseful journey into madness – which is ultimately what it tries hard to be in the second half with images of a ghostly boy spitting out snakes and nuns randomly appearing and disappearing. Compared to the other films in this universe, the scares feel disingenuous since there isn’t enough time or effort put into developing characters that you care about. As a result, their delivery doesn’t hit the scary or shocking note that they should. 

In large part due to Maxime Alexandre’s sumptuous cinematography, director Corin Hardy crafts a beautiful looking Gothic horror film that would play great on mute set to classical music in the background. Instead, we’re left listening to cheesy dialogue and being reminded of dangling plot threads that are never explained (Why is it mentioned that a girl in town kills herself when nothing comes of this?). Like most Euro-horror films from the late 70s and early 80s, there’s a weird charm to its cheesy, funhouse approach to certain scenes, like one early on in a graveyard with ringing bells. Yet, other times, it becomes a tired trip into the world of religious horror, where the screams are heard only from the screen instead of the audience and the prayers are for a sequel that would better utilize the creepy material.

 

Overall score: 2.5 out of 5

THE NUN opens in theaters September 7th

 

I enjoy sitting in large, dark rooms with like-minded cinephiles and having stories unfold before my eyes.