'The Nun' review: Moderately scary movie carries forward horror franchise

Movie: The Nun

Cast: Demián Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, and Bonnie Aarons

Director: Corin Hardy
 
Genre: Horror

Duration: 1 hr 36 min

Story: 

Father Burke (Demián Bichir) and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows, are sent by the Vatican to investigate the suicide of a young nun in a cloistered abbey in Romania. They meet Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), an immigrant farmer in the small village near the abbey who finds this dead nun, to know more about the deaths and to determine if the grounds to the abbey are no longer holy. The duo confronts a malevolent force in the form of the same demonic nun that first terrorised audiences in Conjuring 2,  as the abbey becomes a horrific battleground between the living and the damned.  

Review:

When The Nun made an appearance in Conjuring 2, it was the scariest scene that made the audience jump in their seats. But was that enough to give the character feature-length importance? Director Corin Hardy and writer-producer James Wan thought so. Does it work? Let's find out.

Director Hardy and cinematographer Maxime Alexandre (known for his work on Annabelle: Creation) make the most of the Transylvanian setting of the story, its gothic setup and the concept of doors and hallways. Whip-pan shots are used generously to try and shock the audience. It works at the beginning of the movie, but once you settle down with the characters, you can always look over their shoulders and find 'the Nun' aka Valak. Abel Korzeniowski's music clutches to what is familiar to him -- cavernous, vocals-heavy score we've come to identify with his work on the TV series, Penny Dreadful.  

The Nun works like a well-oiled machine. It starts with a prologue in which we are introduced to Valak. Then the new characters -- Sister Irene, Frenchie and Father Burke -- are introduced. They get a first taste of the horrors of the abbey and how life is six feet under. That's where the first clue to unsolve the mystery is revealed. All three characters get separated to find three more clues that prove what happened at the abbey, to the nuns in the convent, and how they can save themselves. A well-oiled machine with no real chemistry between the characters, indeed.

Taissa Farmiga is the spitting image of sister Vera who has been phenomenal in the Conjuring movies. This seems to be a meta casting decision to make a connection with other movies. Her Sister Irene is modern for the standards of the 1950s, questions the Bible, is interested in history lessons about the abbey. Farmiga is appealing and you will be rooting for her survival. Both the men, Bichir and Bloquet, falter. Bichir's Father Burke changes accents so often that you start focusing on it instead of the clues he is holding in his hands and the frights that await him. Bloquet, on the other hand, has some charm and his character can't stop flirting with Sister Irene from the moment he lays eyes on her. But beyond that, his only job is to make sure The Nun is connected to the Conjuring.

(Warner Bros)

Doors and hallways propel the story forward. Bonnie Aarons' Valak becomes more menacing because of them. Trapped in that confined space, the living characters have nowhere to move but away from her or towards the camera. That is what the frightening trailers highlighted to hype up this movie. If only the filmmakers hadn't diluted the effect by playing the same gimmick for one and half hours.

Verdict:

The Nun has more noise than scare for fans of fright. Watch it keep up with this 'universe'.

Critic's Rating: 2.5/5