One of the most anticipated films of 2018, “The Nun” brings us the frightening fifth installment into the world of “The Conjuring,” a series based on Ed and Lorraine Warren’s accounts of true events. With the series’ good reputation, it seemed that the continuous jump scares and thrilling scenes would keep the audience on the edge of their seats. However, “The Nun” shows the beginning of the deterioration of the “The Conjuring” series with its weak plot, failure to build tension and awkward comedic additions, all of which result in the film falling short of its predecessors.

“The Nun” takes place in Romania in 1952, where a villager named Frenchie, who transports supplies, finds a nun who has hanged herself. Word gets back to the Vatican, where the main characters, Father Burke and Sister Irene, are sent to investigate by the Catholic Church. The pair travel to meet Frenchie, who leads them to the haunted monastery.

The film features the villainous nun from “Conjuring 2” (2016). Although the film had great potential to create a scary backstory based off of one of the most infamous villains of the franchise, it fell flat in doing so. The plot is thrown together, with the first two-thirds of the movie filled with Father Burke and Sister Irene staying at the monastery and continuously getting terrorized by the nun.

This repetition eventually makes the movie feel tiresome. While a good horror movie subtly delves into the unknown, gradually building up horror to achieve a shocking and unexpected end, “The Nun” decides to get into the full-blown horror immediately, relying on jumpscare after jumpscare in an attempt to mask the thin plot of the movie. What made matters worse was that every jumpscare was so predictable that it failed to deliver any real sense of fear.

In “Conjuring 2,” the nun was so effectively scary because of the mystery that surrounded it. The nun was rarely shown, and it was always coupled with darkness, which didn’t allow the audience to see its face. This again makes us fear the unknown. In “The Nun,” we see the character’s face numerous times, nullifying this terrifying effect. This movie seemingly had all of the pieces to create a great horror movie: an iconic character to base the plot off of, a church-meets-demon theme, and a creepy monastery in a remote village to complete the picture. Despite this, “The Nun” is far too predictable and loses the audience very easily.

Another aspect that feels out of place in “The Nun” is the movie’s use of comedy. While subtle comedic elements can provide contrast to the main themes of horror movies successfully, this film fell short. Frenchie is the main comic relief, but the jokes that are made seem so out of place that they aren’t funny at all.

However, despite its weak beginning, the ending of “The Nun” earns it some degree of redemption. While the beginning of may have felt like an hour of filler, the ending was quite entertaining. After Father Burke and Sister Irene get terrorized over and over  by the nun, a plot twist reveals that the nun had been contained, but was released during World War II. The ending follows Father Burke and Sister Irene as they attempt to reclose the rift which held the nun, along with a surprise ending involving Frenchie.

While “The Nun” may lack plot depth, the actors give strong performances, and its sinister cinematography and atmosphere at least make it worth the watch, especially if you want to follow “The Conjuring” series in the future.

Rating: 4/10

Opinion articles written by staff members represent their personal views. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent WSPN as a publication.