The Nun 2 (2023) Dir: Michael Chaves

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I recently worked my way through all four of the main 'Conjuring' films, and whilst they aren't amazing, they were all at least fairly entertaining. I then decided to move onto the expanded cinematic universe, starting with 'The Nun', before now moving onto this sequel. It was directed by Michael Chaves, who also directed the third and fourth 'Conjuring' films, which gave me a little hope, after the terrible quality of the prior film. Even so, my expectations were kept low, particularly considering the reviews this film has had.

For the most part, the cinematography was to an acceptable, it not overly notable, level, but there was one particular moment involving a picture frame which had incredibly bad CGI. As usual, the costume, make-up, and presentation of 'The Nun', played by Bonnie Aarons, was very unnerving. She looked very creepy, I just wish the rest of the film had helped to fuel the fear of her presence better.

Unfortunately, the film relied way too much on having a metric tonne of lazy, ineffective, jumpscares, especially towards the beginning of the film. Any suspense that was built up was wasted on these unsatisfying jumps, or undercut by strange or silly scenes. I mean, seeing a man judo throw and rugby tackle a nun was not something I expected to see, but it sure was funny - perhaps not what the film was aiming for, but it made it more entertaining.

The story was only marginally better than that of the first film, but, believe it or not, that actually helped out my enjoyment of the film a lot. It was much easier to sit through, and therefore find enjoyment in, the silly supernatural horror antics. The writing was not particularly good, especially in regards to the rather flimsy dialogue, but I found myself slightly less bothered by it than perhaps I normally would have been. Even so, there were still a lot of issues with it - this was not a good film, it just wasn't a terrible one.

Taissa Farmiga returned to star once again as her titular nun protagonist, and, as far as I'm concerned, gave an improved performance in the lead role. She didn't blow me away, but I thought she was definitely one of the better features of this film. It was certainly an encouraging performance for her, at least in regards to her potential as a feature film actress.

I was less fond of Jonas Bloquet, who also returned to the franchise, having featured in the first film. He was frustratingly lacklustre once again - I really haven't enjoyed either of his performances in these two films, but, I would say that this one was slightly better, for what it's worth.

Storm Reid's introduction seemed to promise a new and interesting character, but, unfortunately, she ended up doing very little of note in the film. This was in regards to both her character's role in the film and in terms of her performance. She just didn't impose herself on the role in the way that she really could have. I also want to give a quick mention to Anna Popplewell, who, despite also being underutilised in the story, provided a fairly good performance.

Overall, although this was by no means a good film, I found it far more watchable than its predecessor. It was still riddled with similar issues to that aforementioned prior film, but they were softened by a generally better story. I would still much rather watch one of the four main 'Conjuring' films, but, for an evening's horror-based entertainment, this one was just fine. It would never be my first choice, but I wouldn't mind rewatching it at some point down the road.