Final Conjuring fails to deliver

By Sophie Albertie

The Conjuring: Last Rites marks the end of an era, but the beginning of many questions. Enough questions to make a viewer wonder: Am I missing something?

 Featuring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as the infamous Lorraine and Ed Warren, the final chapter in this iconic horror franchise pits the creeped out couple against their final, most terrifying case. The rest of the 135 minute runtime involves the Smurl family, the unrelenting faith of the two ghostbusting warrens and a demonic mirror that connects both of the previous plot devices.

In this film, diehard fans get mountains of backstory and a riveting cast of beloved characters to fight for. The plot dives into the birth and origin of Judy Warren, and her pronounced psychic abilities, which she inherits from her mother. Fans also get to see her grown up and meet her husband, Tony Spera, played by Ben Hardy. Spera becomes the unsung hero to his investigative in-laws, and cements his place in the family by helping them battle the demons haunting the Smurl family.

Director Michael Chaves, who has only directed two out of seven of the films set in the universe of The Conjuring, has a knack for revving up the tension before audience members even start eating their popcorn. Almost instantly, viewers are launched into the gory true story retelling of the Warren’s hardest case to crack. Legendary screen cred aside, if you are tired of the cliche angel vs devil, good vs bad, christianity vs satanism cliche in horror movies, this one may not be for you. In fact, skip any film adaptation of the classic Conjuring story, period. If the real life story the franchise is based upon involves God, the dramatized retelling will surely exaggerate that sentiment. 

This might have been the film’s singular downfall, one that narrows down the movie to a snooze fest. The final installment relies too heavily on its religious themes to deliver any conclusion of real substance, focusing on the wholesome heartfelt God first narrative, and less on actually scaring people. This is to be expected with its monumental reputation as one of the classic horror franchises of the 21st century, but it is also why the film doesn’t stand alone very well.

 Then again, it may be unfair to expect seven movies worth of content to be wrapped up perfectly in such a short amount of time, and it’s important for any end to hold sentimental value.

This movie could’ve benefited from better writers who were able to ride along with the full story of the Warrens since the first movie released in 2013. For a series finale, it rang anticlimactic. Despite the post credits photo… if you know, you know.

At the end of the day, it’s apparent this film was created with true conjuringheads in mind. If I had been one of these, chances are the story would have had more of an emotional impact on me. One thing is for certain, the scariest moments of this movie remain the parts I felt utterly underwhelmed by.