Something is murdering priests… something very familiar…

As is always the case at the moment, we need to talk about the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike and what’s caused them. Bonnie Aarons, who plays the Nun, is currently suing Warner Bros for the contractually required share of merchandising she claims to have not received for the original movie. Obviously the case is ongoing, but coming hot on the heels of a Suits writer receiving an under $300 residual cheque a month after the show posted over 3 billion watched minutes on Netflix, it’s a stark reminder of why the strikes are happening, who has the power to end them and the fair pay everyone richly deserves and has, so far, been denied.

All that in mind, a quick timeline note. The Nun II is a direct sequel to The Nun. Together they form the first two movies in The Conjuring franchise, which also takes in the Annabelle movies. You don’t have to have seen any of those to watch The Nun II, but checking out The Nun would really help. It’s an immensely fun time, and this is very much Chapter 2 of that story.

It’s 1956 and, four years after her clash with evil at Saint Cartha’s monastery, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) is based out of an Italian convent. Maurice (Jonas Bloquet) is now a handyman at a boarding school in France where he’s befriended Sophie (Katelyn Rose Downey), the young daughter of teacher Kate (Anna Popplewell). Both seem happy; Maurice is clearly falling for Kate and Sister Irene has a much needed close friend in Sister Debra (Storm Reid), a new arrival from America. But something is murdering priests, something Sister Irene and Maurice have fought before. Something that knows them both.

Director Michael Chaves is not a stranger to this universe and every full length credit he has to date is on a Conjuringverse or Conjuringverse-adjacent film. You can see why too; he shoots the rain-slick streets of France with a theatricality that reminds you of Blumhouse but also feels grounded in the time period. This is a haunted Europe, and scenes in an explosively deconsecrated chapel and on a magazine-stand stand out as feeling very different to what you’d expect. The magazine stand apparition in particular is incredibly impressive, balancing impressionistic visions with a tangible sense of menace. Everything feels grounded and visceral, which makes the all-out multi-level slug fest of an exorcism that concludes the movie even more impressive. I’ve never seen a wine cellar used as an area denial weapon before and it’s just one of the frantic, panicky beats of invention here. Irene and Debra are outnumbered and outmanoeuvred from the moment they arrive and how they deal with that is where the movie’s charred heart lies.

Farmiga is spectacularly good in a very quiet way as Irene. She’s an intensely calm on screen presence, clearly always thinking and never quite relaxing. Her Sister Irene is pragmatic, kind, instantly likable and entirely unable to look herself in the eyes. That changes here as the movie gives us some answers about Irene’s past and ties her to Vera Farmiga’s Lorraine Warren in the core Conjuring movies. This is an offhandedly impressive moment that doesn’t impact on your enjoyment if you’ve never seen the other films but ties everything together if you have. Plus the production deserves nothing but praise for making the fact Taissa and Vera Farmiga are sisters part of the meta-plot for the franchise.

The rest of the cast are just as good. Reid’s cheerfully two-fisted spiritual pragmatist is a great wimpled Watson to Farmiga’s Holmes, grounded where Irene is constantly being pulled away. Bloquet remains the dark horse of this series and his slightly otherworldly, off-hand charm gets curdled in some truly impressive ways here. I’d honestly like to see him play the Doctor at some point. His benevolent outsider energy is always fun to watch. Aarons is, of course, the silent fourth partner along with Andrew Morgado’s voice work and she’s terrifying here. Chaves hides the Nun in plain sight until she’s ready to step into the light and Aarons’ cold, regal ferality is exactly what the movie needs. Popplewell and Downey also impress but are less well served, like Suzanne Bertish as Madame Laurent, the doomed headmistress.

Verdict: The ending is, as others have said, a little overblown but even with that in mind this is just a really fun spooky time. The cast are all great, it’s well plotted, way more visually inventive than you’d expect and bounds along. If you already like the franchise, you’ll like this. If you’ve never tried it before, the Nun duology is a great series in its own right and a great hopping on point too. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart