The Conjuring: Last Rites - The Conjuring: Last Rites is a fitting name for this final horror spiritual adventure from Ed and Lorraine Warren.
The Conjuring: Last Rites - The Conjuring: Last Rites is a fitting name for this final horror adventure of Ed and Lorraine Warren. Audiences have been in suspense since the last appearance of this couple in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Therefore, from the beginning, fans of this series are eager for i The Conjuring: Last Rites .
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as the paranormal investigators. The Conjuring: Last Rites may not be the end of the Conjuring universe, but it will be the last film centered on the Warrens. The door is open for future films with new storylines, allowing audiences to explore the larger, spooky landscape.
Like the previous Conjuring films , The Conjuring: Last Rites was inspired by the real-life experiences of the Smurl family in Pennsylvania - the final case of the Warrens. This is not the first time the case has been adapted for the screen. In 1991, there was a TV movie called The Haunted, based on the book The Haunted: One Family's Nightmare by Robert Curran. It was The Haunted that introduced producer James Wan to the Warren family story, inspiring him to make The Conjuring in 2013.
The Conjuring: Last Rites is a personal story
While The Conjuring: Last Rites, in the style of a TV series, ups the ante, tweaks the details, and creates its own creative and intense narrative space, things go awry for the Smurl family. The family begins to experience terrifying phenomena when the grandparents present the mirror to their granddaughter for her Confirmation. It turns out that the entity behind the horrors they're about to experience is also keeping an eye on the Warrens' daughter, Judy. In fact, it's been watching Judy since the day she was born. This time, it's personal.
However, throughout the film, The Conjuring: Last Rites has a parallel storyline of the Warrens moving on to their own careers, partly due to age and partly due to changing times, but also to letting go of the protection they had for Judy, who also has the ability to see and sense supernatural things. Now an adult, she wants to live a full and stable life, but the entity at the Smurl house has other plans.
Director Michael Chaves is no stranger to directing films in or adjacent to the Conjuring Universe, having previously directed The Nun II, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and The Curse of La Llorona. This is without a doubt his best entry in the series to date, delivering scares, intense drama, and emotional weight that serves as a fitting conclusion for the Warrens. Not only does it highlight such classic horror films from the period, such as The Changeling, The Amityville Horror (another Warren investigation), Poltergeist, and of course The Exorcist. There's even a Ghostbusters reference to help address the misconceptions about what the Warrens were up to during that period. Additionally, the film is a nod to director Mike Flanagan's Oculus and Alexandre Aja's 2008 supernatural horror film Mirrors for their influence on The Conjuring series.
While The Conjuring: Last Rites doesn't deliver a constant scare, the moments that do come across are effective and creative, rather than gimmicky. There are a few moments of light humor, not comedy, that work well and add to the tension. When Chaves weaves in dramatic and human elements, they work brilliantly, allowing the audience to form the closest and most genuine connections with the Warren family. The film feels like a family affair, where the audience is welcomed as guests rather than spectators.
The Conjuring: Last Rites puts danger in every detail
One of the film's greatest strengths doesn't come from the scares; it's the fact that it was filmed in England, not Pennsylvania.
Chaves and his creative team did a phenomenal job of making London and Hertfordshire look like Philadelphia. Cinematographer Eli Born, known for Companion, the Hellraiser remake, and Super Dark Times, created depth in the darkness and tension, as well as warmth in the family elements. The set pieces are also stunning. This might be the best-looking Conjuring film since the first one, and the devil really is in the details.
In a film that is carefully timed, The Conjuring's finale is surprisingly gripping and explosive. The inevitable confrontation between the demon, which appears in various forms throughout the film, is intense and grueling, giving Wilson & Farmiga a powerful and emotional final showdown. After this final battle, there's a wedding scene with cameos in the church, including the producer and director of the first two Conjuring films, James Wan, as well as Lili Taylor and Mackenzie Foy from The Conjuring, Frances O'Connor and Madison Wolfe from The Conjuring 2, and Julian Hilliard from The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
Overall, The Conjuring: Last Rites is one of the best entries in the cinematic universe to come out over a decade ago. Natural acting, great writing, and bold creative choices pay off beautifully. It delivers everything audiences have come to expect. Hopefully, fans who were disappointed by previous Conjuring films will come to say their final goodbyes to the series. They won't regret it.