The Nun Review - Nunsense.

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

Unintentionally comedic and over-reliant on predictable jump scares, The Nun is a serviceable but ultimately forgettable prequel.

Plausibility and a pervading sense of Dread are two things you need to make a good horror film. But The Nun does not have either. It’s a forgettable exercise in mediocre horror stereotypes.Although it doesn’t look like a low-budget student film, its premise does feel like it was assembled by a few film students one lazy afternoon. I can imagine the thought process of the studio heads at Warner Brothers; “You know, horror is becoming a hot genre, and that scary nun was pretty popular. Let’s make a prequel on him, add a comic relief character, add a lot of jump-scares, cast someone who looks like the lead actress in The Conjuring, then tie it back to The Conjuring…and we have our movie!”

The film is set in 1952 when the Vatican receives news that a nun in a Romanian monastery committed the unholy act of suicide. It calls upon one of its special priests, Father Burke (Demián Bichir) to go investigate the incident. The church also recruits soon-to-be nun Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) to accompany him, owing to her “familiarity with the territory”. Guiding them to the monastery is Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), a charming delivery man who discovered the dead nun’s body.

From this point until the end of the story, the film simply follows the three entering one scary part of the church, being terrorized by the demon, and then moving on to the next scary part of the church. It sticks to the old, predictable plot beats of a typical Hollywood horror movie; like chasing down a mysterious hooded figure who clearly wants to kill you, following an inhuman sound into dark corridors or forest, staring at a mirror hoping to catch the interloper behind you (need I go on?); and becomes largely unengaging and unoriginal.

Save for about three instances, the jump-scares in this film feel disappointingly predictable. You can tell exactly where on or off screen the ghost lunges in, and when it will happen. This point brings me to what is probably the biggest disappointment of the film: Valak. The film explores Valak’s origins sure, but he is reduced to a merely physical threat instead of a psychological one. One of the best parts of this film is the blend of CGI and practical effects to showcase Valak’s powers, which unfortunately aren’t used for anything other than blowing curtains around or breaking a few picture frames: things that have been done a zillion times in this franchise. You could even play a drinking game: take a shot everytime Valak opens his mouth and flings someone towards a wall. An interesting ability Valak has is that of projecting extremely lifelike visions into his victim’s minds, but this could have been used in more compelling ways. He seems to use this ability sporadically, without any sense of urgency or commitment, as if the plot demands him to give the main characters time to regroup after his every onslaught. As a result, Valak’s actions come off passive and non-threatening.

It’s only in the third act that the film shifts to the tone most appropriate for it: horror-action-comedy a la “Cabin in the Woods”. Father Burke, Sister Irene, and Frenchie know Valak is a physical threat, but only Frenchie has the sense to bring a shotgun to the fight. Frenchie, especially in this part of the film, is the standout. He is most aware of the absurdly scary and hostile environment, and his reactions bring laughs from an audience (in my theater too) who for once can project their fright from the jump-scares on screen onto him. However, while he is an endearing character, he is an unfit addition to the film – or rather, the film is an unfit arena for him – owing to its uneven tone.

Unlike other films in the franchise, The Nun employs overly far-fetched story elements and so throws itself into the realm of fiction without a tether to the real world. Concepts like The Demon from Hell and artefacts like the blood of Jesus Christ (yes, THE Jesus Christ) illustrate how close this movie delves into the supernatural, but the overly serious dialogue only highlights the absurdity, and doesn’t help audiences buy into this world. On the surface, the plot makes sense, but there were a few moments where I questioned the logic some characters take to solve problems, the discrepancy between how an inciting event affects characters in the same situation.

Despite its shortcomings, The Nun has scored big in the box office. Its main pitch: a chance to see Valak again and expand the Conjuring universe seems to have worked on audiences, including me. The film takes full advantage of its connection to Ed and Lorraine Warren’s cases in the Conjuring films with an opening and closing scene that uses footage from “The Conjuring”. These are fair reasons to check this movie out in theaters.

There’s a lot this movie lacks, but to be fair, it’s still a pretty good time at the movies if you want to hang out with a bunch of friends and kill some time. The actors do well with the material they’re given, and the supernatural spectacle is fun to watch. The best way to experience this movie is just to lower your expectations and laugh at the horror clichés it recycles from past horror-blockbuster films. These might virtually die out, given the rise of horror films like ‘A Quiet Place’, which take a more focused and subtle approach to horror. It’s best to enjoy them while they’re still here.