The Nun 2 Early Buzz: Scarier, More Fun, And A Major Improvement On The First Film
Hold on to your habits, because the scariest sister, the berobed baddie herself, queen horror of all horrors in The Conjuring Universe — Valak — is back on the big screen. "The Nun II" had an advance premiere last night ahead of a September 8 wide release, and early buzz is pouring in from critics.
Directed by Michael Chaves, who helmed "The Curse of La Llorona" and the third "Conjuring" film, "The Nun II" will pick up right where the first film left off. In Corin Hardy's "The Nun," a novitiate nun named Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) teams up with Maurice, a village hottie nicknamed Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), and Father Burke (Demián Bichir), the Vatican's local exorcist, to wage holy war on the sinister demon Valak (Bonnie Aarons), who has taken root in a decrepit Romanian monastery. It's 1952, and none of the events of the preceding or subsequent Conjuring films have yet taken place (though the OG "Conjuring" does include a scene featuring a videotape of an exorcism performed on Maurice, more on that in a minute). The trio thinks they've succeeded in vanquishing Valak after Sister Irene spits the actual blood of Christ onto her face (I love these movies), but an inverted cross hidden on the back of Frenchie's neck suggests that Valak is only lying in wait for more, later.
"The Nun II" is later. The trailer shows Sister Irene duking it out with Valak yet again, this time at a girl's school. We're likely to see how Frenchie's origins in "The Nun" connect to his fate as depicted in "The Conjuring," but as for everything else, including scare factor, screenplay sophistication ("M3GAN" and "Malignant's" Akela Cooper is on the writing team), and overall quality, let's poll the critics.
A marked improvement over the original
/Film's own BJ Colangelo kicked off the reaction chain, sharing that "a few scares had me jumping in my seat." She added that "Storm Reid is a welcome addition to The Conjuring Universe, even if the story felt like three different films fighting for the main plot at times. Still had a blast and Bonnie Aarons is a treasure." Aarons, a fantastic character actress who's now reprising her role as Valak for the fourth time, is currently suing Warner Bros. for using her likeness without adequately compensating her. It's the foreboding, imperious presence that Aarons gives Valak that really gives these movies their juice, so hopefully Warners rectifies the way they've been undervaluing their star performer amid the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike.
Speaking of performers, Perri Nemiroff of Collider also singled out Conjuring Universe newcomer Storm Reid for praise, tweeting that she "loved the fresh energy Storm Reid brings to the series," and that "again, Taissa Farmiga and Jonas Bloquet are winning leads." Overall, she found "The Nun II" to be "a rock-solid new installment of the Conjuring-verse" with "eerie atmosphere [that] is hugely effective and there's a bunch of strong set pieces." Nemiroff is already "eager for another watch to over-analyze the new additions to the lore."
The Hollywood Reporter's Brian Davids tweeted in no uncertain terms that "'The Nun II' is infinitely better than the first installment. The characters of Irene and Maurice are explored in a more meaningful way, and the greater Conjuring Universe is impacted rather significantly." So the movie rocks and the characters are better. But what about everything else — the writing, the way it handles Conjuring lore, and most importantly, the scares?
Scarier and more intense, with some reservations
Joseph Deckelmeier of Screen Rant tweeted that Chaves and Cooper "up the scares in a big way," adding, "It's a great film for this time of year." Freelancer and Mama's Geeky blogger Tessa Smith echoed Brian Davids' exact sentiment, sharing that "The Nun 2 is infinitely better than the first film." And the fright factor? "It's scarier and much more intense. This is what I wanted out of the first one, which was too heavy and bogged down with lore. Now we get to have FUN with this terrifying villain."
Nightmarish Conjuring's Shannon McGrew agreed about the upped intensity, sharing that the film "is so extra and goes so hard that I'm now instantly obsessed and I will not be talking about anything else for the foreseeable future. Bravo Akela Cooper and Michael Chaves!" Cooper has more than proven herself as a gifted horror screenwriter by now, but it's great to see Chaves get his laurels after the mixed reception of both "La Llorona" and "The Devil Made Me Do It."
Mike Manalo of Nerds of Color had mixed praise for the film, tweeting that while "”The Nun II' is a big improvement over the first film. Bigger, better, and scarier with a much more solid story," it may "potentially break some Conjuring canon." Gizmodo's senior reporter Germain Lussier advanced a similar reaction, sharing that the film's "Got two good stories that intersect into a fantastic third act which is amazing until it loses focus just a bit right at the end. That misstep aside, it's got awesome scares, effects and Sister Irene is legit a legend."
Slight missteps aside, "The Nun II" has so far been hailed as a major improvement upon the first, and even as one of the best films in The Conjuring Universe. Valak, take a bow.