The Nun II Director Reveals Where You Can Spot Key Easter Eggs [Exclusive]
There are definitely some benefits to watching horror movies at home. For one thing, it's easy to hide under the covers when jump scares get overwhelming, or to pause for popcorn if you need to break the tension (or just really want some popcorn). In the case of the self-referential and foreshadowing-heavy Conjuring Universe, though, catching the latest movie on digital and home media also comes with one extra added benefit: the potential for frame-by-frame Easter egg hunting.
There are Easter eggs aplenty hidden throughout the interconnected franchise that began with "The Conjuring" in 2013, and apparently "The Nun II" is no exception. /Film's BJ Colangelo recently spoke with the director of the latest Conjuring-verse chiller, Michael Chaves, to get the scoop on some of the movie's most rewarding hidden references. Fair warning if you haven't seen "The Nun II" yet: Chaves talks about some of these hidden references in detail, so if you want to spot them for yourself first, feel free to bookmark this tab and return to it once you've caught up with Valak and Sister Irene.
V-A-L-A-K
Chaves points to three distinct Easter eggs that are visible for anyone close-watching "The Nun II." The first takes place during a memorable scene in which Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) is taunted by a vision of Valak (Bonnie Aarons) that comes to life within the image of a newsstand. Chaves told Collider that the scene was achieved with a combination of visual effects and magazines that were mechanically rigged to move in tandem. In his interview with /Film, Chaves reveals that "Leading up to the newsstand sequence ... It actually spells out 'Valak' on the location. I had boarded it out."
While Chaves doesn't say where the letters V-A-L-A-K appear, one Reddit user has already caught each instance and shared them on r/MovieDetails. This isn't the first time Valak's name has foreshadowed her appearance, either: the name shows up several times in "The Conjuring 2," including in the beads of a child's bracelet and in block letters on a bookshelf. According to Chaves, adding the letters into the ramp-up to the newsstand sequence led to some interesting challenges when the edit came around. "We had to commit to, 'This shot's going to be here. This shot's going to be here in the edit,'" he told /Film. "Usually, you're always playing with things in the edit. But that was one thing that I was like, 'It needs to tell it in sequence. We got to get all of the letters in sequence.'"
The second Easter egg apparently appears during a climactic scene in which Sister Irene faces off against Valak. Chaves is pretty tight-lipped about the details on this one, but says, "The other thing is you get a glimpse ... I'm not going to say of what or who. But when Irene is up in the air facing Valak, you get a glimpse of something."
The Sister Irene and Lorraine Warren comparisons keep piling up
Viewers have noted that during the scene in which the demon nun attempts to set fire to Sister Irene, the young nun sees visions not just of her ancestor St. Lucy, but also of the eyes of "The Conjuring" protagonist Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga). Given that the two actresses are sisters, could this concrete connection between the two characters be hinting that Lorraine is related to Sister Irene? This would be an impressively drawn-out casting plan, but a good one.
Finally, Chaves points out that one of the film's final shots echoes a previous Conjuring-verse poster. "In one of the very last shots of the movie where Irene is looking at Maurice, she's holding her rosary," he points out. "It echoes another image, which, if you look through the posters of the previous movies, you might be able to connect it. I haven't had anybody point that out." In terms of imagery featuring rosaries, the clearest connection here is once again to Lorraine, who appears on the poster for "The Conjuring 2" clutching her throat while holding a rosary across the back of her hand.
Warner Bros.
Chaves says he hasn't checked in online to see whether fans have spotted these Easter eggs yet or not, but hopes that these shortcuts validate any fans who might've caught the sneaky references back when the movie hit theaters. He also previously spoke to /Fim about even more "The Nun II" Easter eggs, including a scare that matches one from "The Conjuring 2," some parallel eye-gouging, and more appearances of the letters "V-A-L-A-K." You might be able to spot even more when "The Nun II" hits DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K on November 14, 2023.