The Nun (2018) Review

"There's a time for prayer and a time for action, son."

-Father Burke

After the suicide of a nun is discovered at a remote monastery in Romania, the Catholic church sends a priest, Father Burke (Demián Bichir) and an young, aspiring nun, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), to investigate.  They are joined by the man who discovered the dead nun, Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), and arrive at the monastery only to find something terribly wrong.  Something evil dwells inside and it is desperate to get out.

What Works:

The Nun has easily the creepiest setting of the all the films in The Conjuring universe.  The monastery itself looks great with some very creepy and sinister sets.  It's obvious that the budget for this film went to the sets and production design.

There are also a handful of creepy sequences throughout the film.  They aren't as well done as some of the sequences from The Conjuring films, but they're decent.  My biggest fear is being buried alive and one of the sequences deals with that.  It was pretty effective and gave me the shivers.

I also liked how Irene was ultimately able to defeat Valak (Bonnie Aarons).  It was creative, well-set up, and a bit schlocky, which is exactly what I want most of my movies to be.  This was just one moment, not the whole film, but it was unexpected and I genuinely appreciated and enjoyed it.

Finally, there is a tie-in to The Conjuring movies apart from the character of Valak.  It was pretty unexpected and believable enough.  I was glad they had something to tie the films together, unlike the Annabelle movies.

What Sucks:

The script is pretty terrible and doesn't make a lot of sense.  The plot involves the Blood of Christ, which makes no sense in any way, shape, or form.  I can only suspend my disbelief so much.  Also, the vast majority of the jokes don't land and feel tonally awkward.  This movie is supposed to be dark and scary.  The jokes don't help achieve that goal.

The characters themselves are pretty lackluster.  The actors are trying, but they aren't given enough to work with.  The Annabelle films have the same problem.  These movies are all pretty much the same: spooky stuff happening.  We need characters who are likable and interesting in order to be engaged in the story.  The Conjuring movies have that.  Both have talented actors playing solid characters.  This is the main reason The Nun mostly doesn't work.

Finally, there are a few boring stretches throughout the film.  I found myself zoning out a couple of time because the story and the characters weren't interesting and there wasn't enough happening on screen for me to care.  It gets better as the film goes on, but it's still a problem.

Verdict:

The Nun has a spooky setting and a few creepy sequences, plus I enjoyed part of the 3rd act quite a bit.  But the lack of an interesting story and characters, the forced comedy, and the boring stretches prevent me from recommending this movie.  It's not outright bad, but it's not good either.  It's better than either of the Annabelle films, but not as good as either of The Conjuring films.

 5/10: Meh