Review: "The Nun"

The Internet is flooded with poor reviews about this film. So, I didn't really have wild expectations going in. Me and my pals literally sat holding hands in a chain while watching it. It was really terrifying at times. Well, at least that was our initial impression. This review would have been very different had I written it immediately after watching the movie. I felt that some research ought to be done to deliver an accurate picture of what this movie really is. So, I watched Conjuring 2 and Annabelle : Creation after reaching home. I feel, in doing so, I have put things in perspective and can judge this film for what it really is and what it could have been.

Also, I have decided to not include any pictures in this article. I usually add stills from the movies I review to pictorially showcase the minute details I'm trying to break down but seeing that this is a horror film and I don't wanna give you guys any nightmares, I'm gonna refrain from attaching pictures.

This movie was always supposed to be an origin story for Valak. Conjuring 2 did a great job at making Valak terrifying. The Nun barely has her in it. Moreover, as it turns out, Valak isn't even 'her'. She's a demon who possess hosts. That isn't really convincing. Its terrifying but generic for horror plots. It's repetitive of what we have already seen over and over before. The story is set in this castle in Romania that is surrounded by a graveyard. The Nuns in the abbey have been assigned with the task of containing the evil that a crazy duke summoned from Hell (duh) many years ago. All this while, the demon has been contained in a gateway to hell but the bombs dropped on the castle during WW-II opened the gateway and now its been freely roaming the castle. Here's the problem with this. You want us to believe that there's a physical gateway to Hell in this castle? Ok, done. You also want us to believe that this gateway can be opened through a bomb? After you previously told us that it was closed all those years ago with the Blood of Jesus Christ? (duh, a again). Isn't the power of God supposed to be greater than the power of all those bombs? The entire merit of these movies relies on that notion and these guys just threw it out of the window. So, yeah, this is a movie about individual scenes and you wont really miss much if you only watch the scary scenes and wet yourself (watching them in random order will also work). This is disappointing since the Conjuring series actually does a good job with their stories. Maybe not as good as Insidious but still pretty decent and at times great. 

Cinematography and sound are the most crucial elements of any horror film. I'm relieved to say that they didn't mess those up. The cinematography and visuals though not inventive, are not bad and do a good job at keeping the movie feel like a scary one. Though they could have shot the scary scenes in a higher frame rate to make them look more terrifying. This technique is known to have worked several times before in other movies for intense scenes and I don't now why they refrained from it. The music too is eerie though very forgettable. I don't remember any of it. Both of these elements don't add to the degradation of the film. They're just there and do their job, without leaving a mark.

The movie is scary though. The scenes which are meant to be terrifying, are very much soul crunching. Its full of weird and eerie incidents and the climax is very terrifying when being viewed in the moment. If I had to rate this movie solely on the basis of how scary it was, I'd give it 4 stars. Thats the thing with horror movies, you can keep making the same stuff for years and people will still find it terrifying. It might not be as scary for intense horror movie lovers but will definitely make you wet yourself if you are a casual horror fan.

I, personally, don't watch a lot of horror movies. I'm not gonna try to come up with a clever excuse. Usually, I can't move about the house or be alone after I watch a horror film but I am pretty stable now. I can easily sleep alone tonight and go step out into the dark street outside my place to go get some groceries. Heck! I even watched Conjuring 2 and Annabelle: Creation right after watching this movie. If I had to describe The Nun in a word, I'd pick Forgettable. It doesn't leave a mark like Insidious movies do.

If you've got the time, go watch other good movies that have been released recently and are still being screened. I've been a little caught up with school lately. As a result, I've missed great movies like Street, Gold, Mulk and Paltan. A few good ones like Searching, Alpha and Renegades didn't even make it to Guwahati. So go watch these movies. Watch The Nun when it's available on the web or don't watch it at all unless you're a serious Conjuring fan.