The Conjuring: Final Rites (2025)
Ed and Lorraine Warren return for the fourth entry within the Conjuring franchise. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have embodied these roles for over a decade, serving because the anchors of probably the most profitable horror universe launched this century.
The story begins in 1986, with the Warrens in uneasy retirement. Ed’s coronary heart is failing, Lorraine is emotionally and spiritually drained, and their daughter Judy is on the cusp of maturity — and displaying indicators of inheriting her mom’s second sight. In the meantime, a working-class household in Pennsylvania acquires a demonic mirror, reawakening an entity that after practically killed Judy as an toddler.
After the morally doubtful The Conjuring: The Satan Made Me Do It (2021), which appeared to validate the real-life protection of assassin Arne Cheyenne Johnson, Final Rites shifts focus inward. As an alternative of centering on the haunted household, it explores the toll {that a} lifetime of battling demons has taken on the Warrens. The setup carries weight, however the movie struggles to ship on its premise.
Director Michael Chaves affords an enchancment over his earlier outing (The Nun II, 2023). He crafts a plausible household within the Smurls, however as soon as they set up the dimensions of the supernatural risk, the script sidelines them into background fodder. The Warrens’ melodrama takes heart stage, however it unfolds in predictable beats, by no means fairly placing the emotional depth it reaches for.
By way of scares, Final Rites ups the violence and stakes, however it not often delivers distinctive set-pieces. Too many scenes depend on dimly-lit basement strolls, Lorraine shrieking “Ed!!!,” and recycled demons from earlier installments shoehorned in with out rationalization. These are fan-service moments masquerading as substance. At 2 hours and quarter-hour, the movie appears like two half-stories stitched collectively, with one thing misplaced within the seams.
Nonetheless, The Conjuring: Final Rites affords the acquainted haunted-house framework followers have come to count on. There are sufficient leap scares to jolt a crowd, and longtime followers of the Warrens might discover emotional payoff in watching their saga close to its conclusion. For informal horror viewers, it offers ambiance and some enjoyable jolts, however little that lingers after the credit roll.
