The Nun II (2023)

In 1956 the Demon Nun (Bonnie Aarons) is back at it again, traveling through Europe, looking for a powerful religious relic. This time she possesses the body of Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), and the now experienced Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) must face death once more to save her friend and the religious world. The Nun II sees good face off against evil once again–and now the demon nun is more powerful than ever.

The Nun was an average, incredibly safe horror film that didn’t do much to separate itself from other films of the genre–and it effectively struggled to entertain me from beginning to end. The Nun II, while still safe, is technically spectacular, and does so many wonderful things throughout its duration. It’s leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor, and I’m so impressed by what Director Michael Chaves and his team were able to create with the most recent installment in the The Conjuring franchise.

The editing in The Nun II is simply stunning. It’s perfect, and the ability of this team to piece the film together in the way that they do makes this sequel far more menacing and effective than the film that came before. The use of light and editing come together to make suspense and horror possible throughout the course of The Nun II. Chaves often uses light to guide his characters through the story and pull them toward danger–but the danger that lurks in the shadows often exists off screen and has to be brought into frame in a seamless fashion–or everything is lost. This film is pieced together, however, in a way that constantly allows viewers to know that something is coming, but never to know exactly when. I rarely react to jump scares in horror films, but The Nun II managed to get me once. That might not seem like much, but the reality is that the intention of this film, beyond making money and entertaining, is to scare viewers–and it’s successful for sure.

Viewers are effectively dragged through this narrative, forced into the dark, harrowing halls of the boarding school in which The Nun II takes place–and the ability of Editor Gregory Plotkin to constantly create terror out of thin air is the reason for this. He’s the key to the film’s success, and he's brilliant every step of the way.

As I watched The Nun II, it was made very clear to me one of the massive issues of the first film: there was no character development. I never cared what happened to any of the main characters in the first film, and that’s because they are given no back story, no qualities for viewers to relate to–and they effectively just exist as a result. In this film, however, Writers Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and Akela Cooper, as well as Chaves, immediately look into developing the characters and giving them backstories, further humanizing them and ensuring that viewers are able to appreciate them. Sister Irene and Frenchie (referred to almost exclusively as Maurice throughout this film–his actual name) are able to develop throughout The Nun II, and while I couldn’t have cared less if they lived or died in the previous film–I genuinely cared about them here.

Just about every issue that The Nun possessed, The Nun II made sure to rectify. I was skeptical going into this film after having just watched the first one–but all of my expectations were thwarted. Character development pulled me into the film, perfect editing made the film more terrifying and suspenseful than I anticipated, a more effective use of the demon nun surely had viewers on the edges of their seats, and the scenes that seemed out of place or far too drawn out ended brilliantly. The Nun II is a massive step in the right direction–and a new, successful venture into the world of horror.

Directed by Michael Chaves.

Written by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, & Akela Cooper.

Starring Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Storm Reid, Anna Popplewell, Bonnie Aarons, Katelyn Rose Downey, Suzanne Bertish, etc.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10