Film Review: THE NUN II (2023): Taissa Farmiga Stars in a Horror Sequel That Should Satisfy Fans of the First Film

The Nun II Review

The Nun II (2023) Film Review, a movie directed by Michael Chaves, written by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing and Akela Cooper and starring Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Storm Reid, Anna Popplewell, Bonnie Aarons, Katelyn Rose Downey, Suzanne Bertish, Léontine d’Oncieu, Anouk Darwin Homewood, Peter Hudson, Tamar Baruch, Natalia Safran, Maxime Elias-Menet and Pascal Aubert.

In The Nun II, directed by Michael Chaves, Taissa Farmiga plays Sister Irene who comes face-to-face with a demonic force which could give viewers nightmares if they take this movie too seriously. I didn’t see the first The Nun movie when it came out and if I did see it later on, it was quickly forgettable. The beauty of The Nun II is that it stands on its own merits as a fun Friday night scare fest whether you’ve seen the first film or not. Of course, the downside is that the new film is overlong by about twenty minutes and suffers from a plot that meanders from the action at times. Horror fans could still find much to appreciate here with the movie’s ghoulish images and religious themes that are generously sprinkled throughout the movie like a priest sharing holy water with a congregation at mass.

The movie opens in France in 1956 and eventually brings Sister Irene into the action who arrives in order to see what’s going on which is quite suspicious to say the least. Sister Irene is joined by a charismatic nun named Debra (Storm Reid) who doesn’t go to confession. In fact, she thinks she has no sins to confess which seemingly makes her a sinner in the eyes of her fellow nuns. Reid is a nice addition to the cast and has some charisma that she integrates into her character throughout.

Bonnie Aarons plays (rather effectively, I might add) the creepy nun of the film’s title who would give viewers nightmares if the scenes featuring her weren’t so campy. This is the type of movie that talks about superstitions that involve how sunlight and red eyes somehow merge together on a goat featured on a stained glass window. This film is a staple example of how to make a horror movie accessible to teenagers. It relates stories that keep the action moving beyond the images of the freaky nun which is an added bonus. Let’s face it–it would be a lot less interesting without the interesting backstories the movie provides regarding the plot.

There is a boarding school where a man named Maurice (Jonas Bloquet) works and he is the one who suffers the most from the demonic possession that takes place in the new picture. In one scene, after a demon-saturated Maurice tosses the nuns out of his way, our religious ladies ultimately chain him up real good. But, will it help? These nuns wonder if they’ll be able to hold him down. I won’t tell you if they succeed.

The supporting players include Katelyn Rose Downey who adequately serves as a young student named Sophie who is getting teased by bullies at her school. Kate is her mom and is portrayed rather well by Anna Popplewell. Maurice would be a nice guy for Kate to get to know if he didn’t suffer from the aforementioned possession issues. The plot thickens as that pesky demonic nun keeps popping up to wreak havoc on the religious community at large within the picture.

Taissa Farmiga’s Sister Irene could seem like a timid soul but she’s fiercely independent and has visions that her mother also had which shed light on the scenarios at hand in the picture. Farmiga captures the essence of this character rather effectively. Bloquet is also intriguing as Maurice. That character suffers from too many instances of getting possessed which makes one feel sorry for him as this inconvenience gets in the way of Maurice’s pleasant interactions with Sophie and Kate. Poor guy.

Anyone who feels compelled to see The Nun II would most likely know it is a companion piece to other films in The Conjuring Universe. I absolutely adored the way this picture brings key characters from that universe into this movie’s world in a mid-credits scene at the end that is absolutely inspired.

On the other hand, the scariness here is, at times, undermined by the movie’s goofy nature. There is a creature brought into the movie which adds extra creepiness to the plot but was probably not necessary. That being said, this is a movie that will have a built-in, review proof audience who will go for the jump scares the movie so generously provides.

Religious horror movies have been made frequently these days. The Pope’s Exorcist with Russell Crowe was a good one. The Nun II isn’t on that level. I don’t think it’s scary enough to compare to the new Exorcist movie coming out in October which looks really out there in terms of graphic content. The Nun II is a film that arrives at the tail end of the summer movie season and is just at the level of quality you would expect for a film released during this time frame.

Rating: 6.5/10

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