I have been fangirling over the fictional, infamous paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, ever since I first watched “The Conjuring” after it first came out in 2013. Then I found out the movie was based on real events, and I had to take a horror movie hiatus.
Over the past decade, James Wan, director and creator of “The Conjuring” movies, has inspired sequels, spin-offs and countless imitators. Now “The Conjuring: Last Rites” has entered the ring as both a bone-chilling supernatural thriller and a bittersweet end to the investigations of the Warrens, bringing audiences face-to-face with the familiar dread of cursed objects, creeping shadows and the nerve-wracking bravery of the Warrens.
One of the film’s greatest strengths is the way it commands tension and refuses to let the audience settle into their seat. From the very first scene, the audience is thrown into an uncomfortable space interrupted by jumpscares that leave you clutching your popcorn.
Director Michael Chaves allows viewers just enough time between each scare to breathe, eat some popcorn and maybe take a sip of a drink, only to rip the rug out from under you. It’s this constant tension and suspense that make the movie addictive. Your guard can never truly be down.
Central to the story is a cursed artifact that feels instantly at home with “The Conjuring” universe. It becomes clear early on that this object — a terrifyingly beautiful mirror — does more than spook its victims, the Smurl family. It digs into the family’s vulnerabilities and feeds on their helplessness. What makes the movie so unnerving is not just its supernatural power, but the way it reflects human fear of loss, grief and being unable to protect the people you love.
The close-up scenes in “Last Rites” captured the panic etched into the characters’ faces, forcing the audience to be pulled into intimate moments of complete terror. Long hallway shots stretch the silence until it snaps. Bird’s-eye views isolate the characters against a cavernous and treacherous space, amplifying their helplessness and the overwhelming feeling of being watched.
My personal favorite shots were when the camera adopted a perspective that feels disturbingly like the evil entity’s own demonic gaze, making the audience complicit in the haunting. It’s a technique that is reminiscent of found-footage horror, as if you shouldn’t be watching but you just can’t look away— not even for a second.
What gives “The Conjuring” franchise its notability is its ability to relentlessly torment viewers while simultaneously creating an emotional attachment to the Warrens. Across all of “The Conjuring” films, the audience has aged with the Warren family, watching their daughter Judy grow up, witnessing their professional victories, failures and sacrifices.
In “Last Rites,” that emotional investment pays off. Their struggles are not just with demons and cursed relics, but with time itself. The film asks us to consider what it means to keep fighting when the years weigh heavily, and if it’s really worth it when the physical and psychological cost grows steeper.
Longtime fans will notice the careful weaving of franchise history throughout the newest film, which will definitely strike a nostalgic chord. The film layers in subtle nods to earlier cases, visual echoes of famous set pieces and even stylistic flourishes that recall classic horror outside “The Conjuring” universe. For example, there is a scene similar to one from Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” where blood floods a hotel lobby. These touches aren’t too much to overwhelm or dilute the plot, but enough to enrich it.
“The Conjuring: Last Rites” may be one of the scariest in the franchise, not because it reinvents horror but because it refines it. The sound design, cinematography and editing work together to startle you even when nothing appears on screen. It’s a film that weaponizes anticipation itself, making you dread what might be lurking just outside the frame.
Yet beneath the terror lies all of the grotesque and disturbing terror is a surprising and endearing tenderness. This isn’t just another case file for the Warrens — it’s a meditation on aging, legacy and the cost of dedicating your life to battling forces utilizing all six senses.
For fans of “The Conjuring” universe, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” offers everything you would expect — relentless scares, paranormal extremes and the emotional grounding of characters you genuinely care about. For newcomers, it works just as well as a standalone nightmare. Either way, it’s a fitting, fear-soaked farewell.