The Nun II isn’t unwatchable for sure and I do like Taissa Farmiga who possesses some of that lovely screen presence as her big sister, but the movie does not break any semblance of new ground in the possession-horror genre.
The Nun II
(2023)
Genre(s): Horror, Supernatural Thriller
Warner Bros. | R – 110 min. – $29.99 | November 14, 2023
Date Published: 11/13/2023 | Author: The Movieman
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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2½/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: In 1956 France, a priest is violently murdered, and Sister Irene (TAISSA FARMIGA) begins to investigate. She once again comes face-to-face with a powerful evil. Quick Hit Review: When I heard about The Nun, a spin-off of a character introduced in The Annabelle: Creation, I was kind of perplexed why this Valak character needed an origin story, but these films within the Conjuring Universe have made buckets of money on small budgets, so the answer was obvious. I went in with low expectations mainly because I’m not a fan of these supernatural-thrillers which there are very few standouts within this sub-genre (such as The Exorcist, The Last Exorcism and Evil Dead). Well, low expectations were met at least. I really disliked The Nun as it sludged along at a snail’s pace and had a finale that just didn’t work, despite a decent enough performance from Taissa Farmiga, whose character strangely has no connection to Vera Farmiga’s Lorraine Warren, at least right now; wouldn’t surprise me they’ll do something with that in The Nun III. In any case, The Nun II at least was a step up from the first and under the direction of Michael Chaves, who previously directed two other Conjuring-connected movies The Curse of La Larona and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, neither movie I particularly cared for, does give this entry a bit of visual flair and camera movements, and the pacing was a little quicker as well. The film sees the return of Taissa Farmiga as Sister Irene plus Jonas Bloquet as Frenchie, while Demian Bichir’s Father Burke was killed off-screen. The Nun II, as these type of movies go, doesn’t break any new ground but I can’t say it was a bad movie but more on the mediocre side which kind of is the trend with the Conjuring Universe franchise save for the first two. Yet if the possession genre is your thing, might be worth a rental. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1½/5 |
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This release comes with a slip cover and inside a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Unfortunately features are limited with only The Nun II: Demon in Paradise (5:04) and Handcrafted Nightmares (7:02) featurettes. |
VIDEO – 4½/5 |
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The Nun II scares itself onto 4K Ultra HD and is presented with a 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and given a fine looking 2160p high-definition transfer. This is a very darkly lit movie where even daylight scenes are on the dimmer side of things, however there are flashes of color such as when a priest is set ablaze. Detail does look sharp and nicely defined. Black levels are well balanced though it is so dark that my eyes did have to strain to see what was happening. Still, there were no artifacts, aliasing or other visual ailments. |
AUDIO – 4¾/5 |
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The disc has a strong Dolby Atmos track although not entirely tremendous nor did it give my surround system a workout. However dialogue comes across clearly and there was some good depth when the possession scenes comes to life in the climax. |
OVERALL — 2½/5 |
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The Nun II isn’t unwatchable for sure and I do like Taissa Farmiga who possesses some of that lovely screen presence as her big sister, but the movie does not break any semblance of new ground in the possession-horror genre though I suppose it’s an improvement over its predecessor. |