AT THE MOVIES

by Isy Jordan

The Nun
Director: Corin Hardy
Starring: Demián Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet , and more...

A priest with a haunted past and a novice on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun.

It all started with The Conjuring, a really terrifying movie about just one of the adventures of famed paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. It was so popular with horror fans it created a spinoff in Annabelle. Then we got The Conjuring 2, which is actually my favorite so far in this universe and from that, we have another spinoff in The Nun.

The nun in question appears in The Conjuring 2 to Lorrain Warren (played by Vera Farmiga) twice, both times as a demonic version of a nun who to this reviewer looks a lot like Marilyn Manson. The secondary character was enough to terrify a member of my family to the point that she refuses to go see The Nun and she's not usually a scaredy cat.

We knew remarkably little about the nun from its parent film. Here, we get the straight story and it's really good. It's centered around a priest with a dark past and a novice, ready to take her vows, played by Taissa Farmiga, sister of the actress who plays Lorrain Warren.

The holy pair are sent by the Vatican on an investigation and get way more than they bargained for. It's a wild ride of a movie and the addition of the religious aspect here only serves to make parts of it even more terrifying on an entirely different level. It's a battle between the living and the damned and it's not looking good for our side of things.

I can't really say more without giving away major plot points. The acting is superb with several new-to-me actors including Demián Bichir who plays Father Burke and turned in one hell of a performance. The storyline was a little confusing at times. For many the errie atmosphere and jump scares will have them so on edge that they won't be worried about the story per se. If you've seen the other films in the universe, you have a slight advantage. The scares in the film are on point.

The film is rated R for many good reasons including bloody imagery, violence, and much more. It comes in at 1 hour and 36 minutes which is plenty, believe me. These filmmakers know that the best horror films hit you hard, do it in an economy of time, and leave you ready to sleep with all of your lights on.

It opens in theaters on September 7th and if you're a horror fan, yeah, this is perfect to set the tone for Halloween this year. Definitely recommend this one.

Enjoy!