The Nun is the newest instalment of the Conjuring Cinematic Universe, and the highly anticipated movie focuses on a character that first made an appearance in The Conjuring 2. This movie is the earliest set movie in the universe taking place in a Romanian monastery in 1952. Considering the popularity of The Conjuring and the Annabelle movies, and the reception that material debuted at Comic Con got, expectations for The Nun have been set super high.
The first reviews are in and so far it’s not looking fantastic. Right now the Rotten Tomatoes score is a disappointing 34%, although it still sits higher than Annabelle, which got an even worse 29%. The “Critics Consensus” reads:
The Nun boasts strong performances, spooky atmospherics, and a couple decent set-pieces, but its sins include inconsistent logic and narrative slackness.
Here’s what some of the reviews had to say:
The Good
Time Out: “Hardcore genre fans will appreciate visual shout-outs to shriekers like The Exorcist IIIand City of the Living Dead, while Conjuring devotees will enjoy the “aha” moment of a concluding callback that brings the saga full circle.”
York Dispatch: “It’s lush, operatic, hardcore Catholic horror from the depths of “The Omen” and “The Exorcist,” with hints of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s “Black Narcissus,” washed with medieval overtones. And it’s a total, screaming blast.”
Empire: “New to the franchise is director Corin Hardy, who continues the British retro-horror feel of his Irish debut feature The Hallow in a mix of tried-and-tested jump scares and slow-build creep-outs.”
The Bad
USA Today: “most of the film is a disappointingly dull and arduous journey until then, a mix of slow-burn religious mystery and old-school adventure that egregiously fails to utilize its greatest hit: Bonnie Aarons’ terrifyingly freaky villainess of the cloth.”
Seattle Times: “Director Corin Hardy lards on the frights so relentlessly that the moments don’t build to any sort of sustained narrative momentum. Hesitant hands slowly pull back cloths covering shrouded figures to reveal … Aaaah! Looming in the shadows behind quailing interlopers are … Eeek! It’s all Aaaah! and Eeek! and on and on. It’s so choppy and predictable that it becomes laughable.”
Roger Ebert: “Once it stops and you step off, you may still feel a little dizzy, but you’ll have forgotten exactly why.”
The Daily Beast: “The most unholy thing about it is its by-the-books banality.”
So, there you have it. Despite the less than desirable reviews I don’t think we should expect the Conjuring Cinematic Universe to slow down anytime soon. The next instalment will be Annabelle 3, and James Wan said, when speaking in a recent interview, that it will be like “Night at the Museum with Annabelle.”
What are your thoughts on the reviews for The Nun? Let us know in the comments!