The Conjuring: Last Rites | Film Review

 

In 1986, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) take a case that ends up being their last, as they face losing everything that matters.

I'm always looking forward to the next Conjuring universe film, and because this is the last one of this branch, I was looking forward to it more than usual. Even though I didn't love the last Conjuring movie, I loved the first two so much that I really wanted to see how they would wrap things up.

I really liked this movie!

The opening was great, it takes us right back to the beginning and roots us firmly into Ed and Lorraine's world once again.

There was something about this one that felt so much like the first, and I loved that. It's reminding us why we love these people and their stories so much, and it's smart to do that by making us reminisce about past movies we've loved.

Thankfully, the story itself was really interesting. Movies like this run the risk of having the scares be the most important thing, but this one has a really well-written story with great characters outside of the horror, which makes the scary moments that much more powerful. And this is true of both the main and side stories.

And speaking of scares, they're not just jumps, which is really fun. The story is scary, and there are those jumpy moments, but it never relies on that.

Despite it being set when it is, it feels like an updated and more modern take compared to some of the previous ones, and that's really fun.

The actors are all great and do a really great job of bringing these characters to life. But of course, Wilson and Farmiga are the standouts - they've been doing this for a while, they're carrying the entire franchise (along with Annabel), and if this is the last time we see them as these characters, then this was a great way for them to go out.

Though that being said, there were some confusing moments due to so many of the actresses looking similar. You eventually work out who's who, but it took me a little while and even near the end I was still getting mixed up!

It was shot really well - you can still see everything that's happening when it's dark, imagine that!

The first half is much better than the second half, which isn't to say that the second half is bad. But things get a bit too chaotic as they ramp up towards the ending and it can be hard to keep track of what's happening.

And the way everything was wrapped up, while really enjoyable, was a bit too neat and clean for me. I expected things to be a bit darker.

But that being said, it was still a fitting end.

Overall, if you're a fan you've probably already seen this, but if you're not, it's definitely worth watching. It's not the best of the franchise, and there are so many of the movies that I'd recommend, but once you've seen them, this is definitely a good way to end things.

7/10