The Nun II

          For the last ten years, we have all been living in “The Conjuring” universe. For some of you, a light bulb just went off as now you have an explanation for those noises you hear at night as you lie in bed trying to fall asleep. What I was really referring to is the number of movies this series has spawned, some excellent (Annabelle: Creation) and others quite forgettable (Annabelle), a total of eight so far. Well, one of the more forgettable ones in my book is getting a second chapter, and I mean with The Nun, you can only go up, right?

Four years after the incident in Romania, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) has moved on and is doing pretty well. Even though she now lives somewhere else, her past is still very much a part of her. Meanwhile, there seems to be a path of death making its way to France, and because of her past experience, Irene has been asked to look into it. Her investigation takes her to the Catholic Church’s archives in France, where, thanks to a vision, she has an idea of where to start. It appears that Valak is back, and she is trying to get revenge for something that happened centuries ago. So Valak is killing descendants of Saint Lucy as she looks for Lucy’s eyes. This search has taken Valak to an old monastery that is now a girls’ boarding school. Working at this school is Maurice (Jonas Bloquet) who, it turns out, is the reason Valak is there now as well. Irene knows what she must do, and with the help of another sister named Debra (Storm Reid), they pray they can get rid of Valak once and for all.

Written by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and Akela Cooper, The Nun II offers not much more than a convoluted plot that seems to drag on longer than it should. Something it shares with the first film. Those missed first steps are not uncommon for this universe, but the movies usually find their groove on the second go-around. It seems The Nun II did not get that memo as it delivers something on par with the first film, in other words, something that is not very good. With its nearly two-hour runtime and being a second chapter in the story, the film does very little to advance the plot forward. When you add the lack of scares, especially most not shown in the trailer, you are in for quite the letdown.

I was really hoping that the streak would continue, and we would get a better film after a failed delivery of the first. You would think it wouldn’t be too hard to deliver a quality movie about a demonic nun, but it appears harder than it seems. Instead of a film that might make it hard to sleep, we are given horror that is watered down and a story that plays it pretty fast and loose that leads to nowhere. Ultimately, The Nun II will appeal to The Conjuring fans out there looking to add another piece to the puzzle. As for horror fans and everyone else, it offers little more than nearly two hours spent sitting in a movie theater.