With a thrilling storyline and bone-chilling scares, The Nun II satisfies horror lovers being the first Conjuring spinoff film.

Released in theatres on September 8, 2023, The Nun II, also known as the wimple-wearing demon Valak (Bonnie Aarons), has established herself as one of the horror franchise's most noteworthy breakthrough villains ever since she first appeared to haunt the ghoul-busting Warrens in The Conjuring 2. 

And while The Nun, a 2018 spin-off prequel, was tragically a bit of an unholy disaster, The Nun II  sticks to the model established by Annabelle, the other solo star of The Conjuring, by following a weak first movie with a far superior second one.

After her previous demon-battling exploits in Romania, Taissa Farmiga's sweet but slightly sombre Sister Irene is back in this sequel to The Nun, which is set four years later. When a self-immolating priest becomes the latest victim in a string of paranormal clergy murders, Sister Irene is dragged into yet another chase to find Valak. 

The other thread of the plot follows Jonas Bloquet's returning Maurice, who is now working as a hot handyman at a French boarding school where the girls are being frightened by Valakian visions. While she teams up with Storm Reid's newcomer Sister Debra on a tour through Europe, hot on Valak's tunic-tails, Maurice is being followed by Storm Reid's Sister Debra.

The Nun II is more coherent than its predecessor thanks to a solid script by Malignant and M3GAN writer Akela Cooper on story duties (along with credited co-writers Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing). The Nun II is directed by franchise veteran Michael Chaves, who was also responsible for The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and the Conjuring-adjacent The Curse Of La Llorona.

Like Cooper's other horror hits, this one spends an admirable amount of time establishing its characters, allowing Maurice to strike up a charming relationship with schoolteacher Kate (Narnia alum Anna Popplewell) and her daughter Sophie (Katelyn Rose Downey), Sister Irene to have Chekhovian flaws, and Sister Debra to outline her tragic backstory and unresolved views on faith to Sister Irene. Everything works, but at times the pace feels unnaturally slow; a few well-placed snips might have kept this Nun on the move.

Fortunately, like in M3GAN and Malignant, The Nun II's final act is unrepentantly bonkers, adding walking corpses, a hilariously silly demon, an Indiana Jones-style MacGuffin, and a final combat that takes place in a pool of crimson wine rather than blood. 

According to Cooper's previous works, there is a knowingness to the carnage that gives the impression that the picture is in on the joke and savouring the opportunity to go for broke in deliciously insane ways. This makes The Carrier an excellent choice for a double-bill alongside The Pope's Exorcist, which deals in similar religiously tinted schlock.

The Nun's main fault, which the movie also encounters, is that, despite her becoming easily recognisable in James Wan's Conjuring 2 sequel, she isn't a very fearsome antagonist; instead, her abilities and method of operation are largely unknown. 

Nevertheless, Chaves taps into the immense potential of her on-screen presence by sprinkling the scene with objects that strangely resemble nuns, such as sculptures covered in cloth, the peeling paint of a decaying hallway, and a wisp of smoke in a shadowed archway. The deadliest development for magazines since the advent of the internet, Valak manifests in the fluttering pages of a newsstand in the film's greatest scene.

The biggest problem with the movie is the Nun herself, who, despite becoming instantly recognisable in James Wan's Conjuring sequel, is more of a startlingly eerie image than a truly terrifying antagonist because her abilities and method of operation are mostly unknown. 

Chaves, however, taps into the expansive possibilities of her on-screen presence by sprinkling the scene with objects that strangely resemble nuns, such as sculptures covered in fabric, the peeling paint of a decaying hallway, and a wisp of smoke in a shadowed archway. The scariest development for magazines since the advent of the internet, Valak appears in the best scene of the movie as fluttering pages on a newsstand.

The end result is a competent Conjuring universe movie that won't change the course of horror history but is well-made and contains some creative images. It also further establishes Akela Cooper as a writer with a keen sense of spooky humour. In other words, enough to make it worthwhile to transport you to a nunnery.

A fun addition to the Conjuring canon that demonstrates that there are still whimpers hidden beneath that wimple.