Rating: B-

Get ready to sleep with the lights on as the latest film from the world of The Conjuring brings us The Nun. After all this time we are finally getting the backstory on the creepy figure that has tormented the Warrens and so many others throughout this film universe. I know fans have been chomping at the bit with anticipation for this movie, but the question still remains: Does this movie live up to the hype of the films before it? My honest answer? Not entirely. Let's break it down. 

In the film The Nun, we finally get a good solid look at the pure evil that inhabits the form of a Nun that has terrorized us all for many films now, but to truly understand how bad this is we go back to an old Monastery in Romania and get a first-hand account of how this evil came into the world and more so, how it managed to escape from the incredibly remote area of the world. The film takes place in 1952 when we are introduced to two nuns who are literally battling the forces of evil in their monastery. Things, of course, do not go according to plan and after the last remaining sister commits suicide the church sends out a priest who specializes in paranormal occurrences and a young novice nun who is just about to take her final vows to investigate the situation and determine if the location is still a holy site. It doesn't take long for our travels to realize they may have gotten more than they bargained for in this case and will be lucky to escape with their lives and souls intact. 

Demian Bichir takes on the role of Father Burke and Taissa Farmiga plays the role of Sister Irene. These two make an interesting team in this scenario because they both have a mysterious past that we uncover as the film goes on. Their acting is fine, but the main issues I have with these characters is their reaction to situations. I kept thinking through most of the film that these characters must have nerves of steel because when outright creepy and awful things start happening they charge headfirst into it where most people would run the other way. As the level of visions and ghostly attacks start to rise you would think these two would just call it a day and get out of there, but no, they stay and go further. Which, yes, makes for a better movie, that one where the two leads run for the hills, but still, logically some of their reactions just seemed careless and silly and because of that it kept taking me out of the moment. It was frustrating to watch because I really like Taissa Farmiga as an actress and through so much of this movie I was just ready to scream at the screen "WTF are you doing?!"

This film doesn't really live up to its predecessors in my eyes. Movies like Annabelle and The Conjuring really played on your emotions through these really intense stories and settings. They tied in the music to really set the tone and just brought you a really exception horror experience and I did not get that from The Nun.  While there is plenty of jumps scares, I never really had that feeling of dread while watching this movie. It didn't feel scary. The other films really had an effect on the audience and you could almost cut the tension in the theater with a knife and that element was just not here for The Nun which is incredibly disappointing for me because I am a huge fan of this franchise. 

I am certain that this will not be the last we see of The Nun and I am sure Hollywood still has more stories to tell in regards to this movie franchise, so maybe there is hope for redemption somewhere down the road, but this movie just falls short. I scored The Nun with a B-. It was not the epic kick-off to the Holloween movie season I was hoping for, but I suppose it will have to to do. 

You can check out The Nun for yourself in theaters everywhere September 7th, 2018.