Years after facing a demonic entity, a young woman is once again in a supernatural battle against evil. Starring Taissa Farmiga and Jonas Bloquet from the first film, The Nun II offers some decent jump scares and the franchise’s signature atmosphere. However, it fails to present a concise story with significance — mildly entertaining but lacking.
Sister Irene (Farmiga) has attempted to move on after her terrifying ordeal with the demon Valak (Bonnie Aarons). She’s at a new convent with a young nun under her wing named Sister Debra (Storm Reid). Meanwhile, Frenchie (Bloquet) has taken a custodial position at a boarding school in another town.
When a series of horrific deaths mimicking Valek’s pattern alert Irene that the demon has returned, she’ll have to track down her old friend to get rid of their foe once and for all.
While The Nun II is a stronger film than its predecessor, it still suffers from the same things that plagued that one. It’s convoluted and pulls out religious lore at its convenience to deliver an easy path to progress the story. It attempts to introduce explanations, but they’re hollow for the most part and then quickly passed over.
After a fiery opening, the film sets the stage while sprinkling jump scares throughout. Some are quite effective, and they’re clearly trying to find new ways to surprise the viewer. But outside of frights, it becomes difficult to place certain aspects, mainly the proximity between the two returning leads — for most of the first act, it feels like they’re in the same location.
The back and forth becomes quite tedious, as Irene is there solely to follow exposition leads, while Frenchie is actually building a stronger emotional story as he amuses his crush and her kind-hearted daughter. Farmiga is simply far too vacant in her portrayal of Irene, and it feels like her character is only there to make contractual obligations.
To his credit, director Michael Chaves has crafted something that feels very well within The Conjuring Universe, and he knows how to play up the visual tricks with this villain. But this is his third film in the franchise—following The Curse of La Llorona and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It—where it seems like he’s constantly working with lackluster scripts.
As the ninth installment in this ever-growing universe, The Nun II had some decent moments, and it kept my intrigue for the most part. But it’s simply not bringing substance to the table. “The Nun” as a villain is such a naturally frightening character and was so memorable from its first appearance in The Conjuring 2. It’s frustrating that they can’t quite figure out how to tell a consistent story without being drowned in incoherent religious metaphors.
The Nun II is in theaters Friday
Jordy Reviews It 
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