THE NUN II. I would like to begin by acknowledging mistakes were made. Calendar editor Kali Cozyris and I giddily planned a trip to the movies as soon as we saw the trailer for this sequel, assuming we, as supernatural horror fans, were up to it. Granted, she should have worn a thicker shirt in which to tuck her face when the ghastly figure appeared at the end of a hallway. And it was Kali who whispered that the rising dread in one scene had to be a fake-out, a false alarm we could relax for. (It was not.) But I also failed my companion. I chose the early showing, leaving us alone in the largest theater, the audio booming around us in the dark. And demanding she hold off on a trip to the ladies’ room so as not to leave me alone was, in hindsight, unfair. So was berating her for returning to her seat on cat’s paws and appearing next to me like a phantom. There were recriminations, the top-of-the-roller-coaster realization that we were out of our depth and actual screams. But nearly two hours later, we wobbled back into daylight, stunned and a little punch drunk, with our working relationship mostly intact in the wake of director Michael Chaves’ breakneck horror, so I’m calling it a win.
Already, I can hear the chorus of “It wasn’t that scary” from those whose fear-processing amygdalas are either congenitally the size of chia seeds or whose adrenal glands have been blown out by running from bulls, the Trump administration or bingeing Saw movies. We all have different emotional buttons, different frequencies that spike our fight-or-flight responses — jump scares, gore, violence, hauntings, creepy children, evil dolls, possessions, monsters — all of which have been tapped within the Conjuring universe. Here, the majority of them are masterfully brought forth by a fine cast, excellent camerawork and effects, and, to borrow from Jane Austen, with no compassion for my poor nerves.
In the ever-spinning web of the Conjuring universe, the demon Valak attacks the Warrens (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson), the central supernatural investigators, in various forms, sometimes cosplaying a nun (Bonnie Aarons). The origin story of the costume, if not the demon itself, is the subject of The Nun (2018), in which a hefty wedge of Hell breaks loose in a remote Romanian abbey in 1952. Dispatched by the Vatican to investigate a suicide there, a priest (Demián Bichir), a novice named Irene (Taissa Farmiga, whose familial resemblance to Vera can’t be for nothing) and a random French Canadian who goes by Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) barely escape with their lives, all of which is outlined in the exposition of The Nun II to gather up newbies and/or those for whom 2018 was several lifetimes ago.
Following these events only a few years later, The Nun II opens at speed, with a priest levitated and immolated in a French church. Sister Irene, now a nun, is deployed into the field again when the priest’s killing lines up with a number of other grisly deaths among clergy, all in a path that runs back to Romania. With rebellious young nun Debra (Storm Reid) in tow rather than an exorcist, they find, between inquiry, dusty books and Irene’s often terrifying visions, the common thread running from horror to horror is Irene’s old pal Frenchie, now employed at a girls’ school in a former monastery. There, he tends the grounds, moons over a young Irish teacher (Anna Popplewell) and befriends her bullied daughter (Katelyn Rose Downey). And possibly acts as the unwitting vessel for a centuries-old demon cut loose from its Romanian prison and now bent on destruction. C’est la vie, Frenchie.
That the Catholic church recognizes demonic possession and exorcism, carried out by its priests, as its remedy, makes it the forever favorite among horror movies. (Good luck writing a horror story about Unitarians.) The harrowing lives and deaths of the saints, with their visceral torture images, are rich soil, too, as evidenced by the reference to martyred St. Lucy in The Nun II. (One wonders whether this material will satisfy forever or if the more recently documented horrors of the church might eventually leak into horror plots.)
Once The Nun II hits its stride, the pacing is relentless. Chaves keeps the anxiety high in quieter scenes as flashlights track the walls and corners of an abandoned chapel, and the sound is at its best without music, when the sizzle of holy water on stone or the cracking bone or glass sing alone. But as he sets frantic scenes back to back, there’s little time to recover. Aarons’ wild eyes and facial contortions are the demonic gold standard — I’m certain she could make a horse rear with a glance.
Farmiga and Reid turn in strong performances, though the script gives them little to do but brave solving the mystery and battling the beast. Likewise, Bloquet’s physicality communicates a lot but there’s much more that could be mined than we’re given. The characters’ inner workings and struggles are sacrificed to keep the roller coaster of anticipation and fear on track, but maybe a stronger (likely not scarier) movie could have been made with a few judicious trades to give the sequel a little more soul. As it stands, the rush of a good scare is enough. R. 110M. BROADWAY, MILL CREEK.
Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the arts and features editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400, extension 320, or jennifer@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Instagram @JFumikoCahill and on Mastodon @jenniferfumikocahill.
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Fortuna Theatre is temporarily closed. For showtimes call: Broadway Cinema (707) 443-3456; Mill Creek Cinema 839-3456; Minor Theatre (707) 822-3456.
This article appears in Second Chances.
