The Nun 2 Review: An attempt to milk a successful franchise, deceiving viewers in the name of horror.
Cast
Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Taufaan Reed, Anna Poplavel, and Bonnie Aarons
Writer
Akela Cooper
Director
Michael Chaves
Producers
Peter Safran and James Wan
Release
September 7, 2023
The sequel to the 2018 release film ‘The Nun,’ ‘The Nun 2,’ is now in theaters today. The story of this film picks up from where the story of the film ‘The Nun’ ends. The only difference is that ‘The Nun’ was directed by Corin Hardy, and this time the responsibility of directing is on Michael Chaves, who has previously directed ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ and ‘The Curse of La Llorona.’ ‘The Nun 2’ attempts to milk a successful franchise. However, watching this film doesn’t give you the feeling that you are watching a successful film franchise.
The story of the film ‘The Nun 2’ begins in Romania, four years after the events of the first film in 1956. To connect the story with the previous installment, it is shown that Maurice (Jonas Bloquet) is under the influence of the demonic power of Nun Valek (Bonnie Aarons). Through Maurice, she is killing people in search of the Macguffin. For the investigation, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) and Sister Deborah (Storm Reed) from a boarding school in France are sent. There, they encounter Valek. Both are searching for the remains of Saint Lucy, which are powerful artifacts for both Irene and Valek. The entire story of the film concludes within the boarding school. The film’s story takes a turn towards the end, making it feel like you are watching a typical horror film from the 90s.
Although ‘The Nun 2’ is supposed to be a horror film that should send shivers down the audience’s spine, there is not a single moment in the entire film that makes the audience feel scared. The film’s story is quite convoluted, requiring significant mental effort to understand, leaving you puzzled. While watching any film, when you start feeling this way, your enthusiasm to watch the film gradually diminishes.
The film’s background music also fails to create the terrifying atmosphere that is expected in horror films. In horror movies, the background music usually plays a significant role. Tristan Naibe’s cinematography in some scenes does not do a great job of instilling fear, and it doesn’t leave an impact that suggests you are watching a horror film.
Director Michael Chaves had a big opportunity in front of him to prove himself in this film. However, the skill he displayed in his previous films like ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ and ‘The Curse of La Llorona’ is not evident in this film. While his previous films were of average quality, this film falls slightly below that standard. Generally, a film franchise should be better than the first film in any franchise, but this film doesn’t come close to the first film ‘The Nun.’ His biggest weakness was not utilizing Bonnie Aarons appropriately in this film, a character that held great significance in the prequel. Her role in this film feels sidelined, and this is the film’s biggest weakness. Bonnie Aarons could have delivered a powerful horror film performance as Nun Valek, but the film’s story goes off track.
In the prequel of this film, we saw a fantastic performance by Taissa Farmiga and Jonas Bloquet, but we don’t get to see such performances in this film. However, Taissa Farmiga has made an effort to do justice to her character. Especially in emotional scenes, the innocence in her face wins hearts. Bonnie Aarons’ role as Nun Valek appears impactful, succeeding in scaring the audience to some extent, but she didn’t get enough screen time in the film. The performances of the other actors in the film are also of average quality. Although all the actors have tried to do justice to their roles, if other aspects of the film are weak, no actor’s performance can shine.
Video Trailer : https://youtu.be/QF-oyCwaArU?si=etXSE78V-_T162KS
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