Rating 6/10
Paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) are back in what is promised to be their final outing in The Conjuring: Last Rites.
There’s no way this is the “last” in this franchise, but as a marketing gimmick, well done. The picture opened to $84 million domestically, the third-highest debut for a horror release. Even taking inflation into account, that’s still an impressive achievement. Now nine movies strong, the Conjuring universe spans from 1952 to 1986, with offshoots such as Annabelle and The Nun adding to the chronology.
Christian “superheroes” Ed and Lorraine have always used their Catholic faith to confront demonic forces. In the opening set in 1964, they discover a mirror carved with three faces at an antique shop. When a very pregnant Lorraine touches the glass, it cracks and reflects a malevolent version of herself, triggering agonizing labor pains. Ed rushes her to the hospital, where doctors struggle to deliver the child. Lorraine sees visions of an ungodly entity hovering over her newborn, and for a moment, it appears the baby has been stillborn. Only through the power of prayer do the husband and wife receive a miracle: their daughter Judy cries out, alive after all. The joy is overwhelming, but the experience lingers for decades.
The first part of the movie lays the foundation for the ultimate confrontation, and it gets us emotionally invested in the plight of two families. Judy (Mia Tomlinson) grew up sensitive to spirits, much like her mother, but when the story jumps to 1986, Ed and Lorraine have put active investigations behind them. They now lecture at a university, intentionally distancing themselves from the front lines of satanic cases.
Meanwhile, in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, Jack (Elliot Cowan) and Janet (Rebecca Calder) are pragmatic parents raising four daughters (Kíla Lord Cassidy, Beau Gadsdon, Molly Cartwright, Tilly Walker). The Smurl family is all crammed together in a modest Pennsylvania home along with Jack’s aging parents (Peter Wight, Kate Fahy). They begin to experience terrifying disturbances: a falling light fixture, a toy doll floating upwards, an aggressively tugged phone cord, and frightening apparitions. Their ordeal escalates when an antique mirror, eerily familiar to one the Warrens discovered years ago, seems to act as the focal point of these haunted forces. Father Gordon (Steve Coulter), a priest who tries to intervene, meets a tragic fate, leaving the Smurls even more desperate for help. When Judy herself becomes entangled, her parents recognize that they can’t escape their calling.
The setup promises more depth than just another case file. It’s a tale of familial bonds and the price of battling evil. The spiritual warriors must decide how much more they are willing to risk. Their Christian faith is a crucial part of their battle against sinister spirits. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have always had palpable chemistry. At this point, they don’t have to convince us of that anymore because we already know their bond, which they’ve demonstrated over the past 12 years of this series.
What’s most striking about The Conjuring: Last Rites is its structure. Roughly the first half of the film alternates between the Warrens and the Smurls, each lineage allotted room to recount their journey. We spend time with Ed and Lorraine, haunted by the trauma surrounding Judy’s birth, tentatively living a quieter life. We also settle into the rhythms of the Smurl household before the haunting tears it apart, an everyday family under siege. This dual focus builds empathy and weight; when the two plotlines finally converge, there’s a genuine sense of collision between families rather than the demonologists simply swooping in as saviors.
The film’s most effective passages are in this setup, where the personal stakes are depicted. The parallel storytelling highlights the Warrens’ reluctance to re-enter the fight and the Smurls’ desperation to find someone who will believe them. By the time Judy inadvertently becomes a bridge between the two families, the groundwork has been earned.
The Conjuring universe was created by James Wan, who directed the first two films and returns here as a producer. Last Rites is directed by Michael Chaves, who previously helmed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and The Nun II, from a screenplay by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick.
Where the film falls apart is in its final act. Sure, it delivers the requisite showdown, and it has all the predictable bombast that we expect. But the horror tropes are so tired. During a climactic demonic possession in the attic, Ed dramatically reads scripture aloud to cast the demon out, only for the entity to ignite the Bible in flames. The mirror is a conduit for evil, relentlessly spinning for effect, as callbacks to a cursed object in previous movies appear in a cheap bid for nostalgia. Ghoulish shrieks and cheap jump scares abound. It emphasizes noise and chaos, rather than the human connection that made the first half so compelling.
Last Rites shines when it explores the dilemmas facing both families. A cloying sentimentality is introduced, but not entirely unwelcome. The Warrens thought they had left the supernatural behind. The only thing stronger than their marriage is their devotion to God. The Smurl clan is a working-class, multigenerational household living an everyday life. A family simply trying to raise their kids and keep food on the table. The contrast is striking, and when the families finally intersect, the collision of worlds should be powerful. But compared to the rich setup, the resolution feels generic, less invested in the human drama that had been so carefully built. The early sections suggest a drama about the toll of battling wickedness across generations, but the closing fight reduces that initial focus into a standard exorcism showdown.
09-09-25