Wikipedia

The Nun (2018 film)

The Nun is a 2018 American gothic supernatural horror film directed by Corin Hardy and written by Gary Dauberman, from a story by Dauberman and James Wan. It serves as a spiritual spin-off to The Conjuring 2 and is the fifth installment in The Conjuring shared universe. The film stars Taissa Farmiga, Demián Bichir and Jonas Bloquet, with Bonnie Aarons reprising her role as the Demon Nun, an incarnation of Valak, from The Conjuring 2. The plot follows a Roman Catholic priest and a nun in her novitiate as they uncover an unholy secret in 1952 Romania. It is followed by a sequel The Nun II, released in 2023.

The Nun
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCorin Hardy
Screenplay byGary Dauberman
Story by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMaxime Alexandre
Edited by
  • Michel Aller
  • Ken Blackwell
Music byAbel Korzeniowski
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • September 4, 2018 (2018-09-04) (TCL Chinese Theatre)
  • September 7, 2018 (2018-09-07) (United States)
Running time
96 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$22 million[2]
Box office$366 million[2]

Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema announced The Nun, a spin-off film to The Conjuring 2, which had opened five days earlier, with Peter Safran and Wan producing. The initial script for the film was written by David Leslie Johnson. Hardy had signed on to direct The Nun with a new screenplay from Wan and Dauberman. Principal photography began in May 2017 in Bucharest, Romania.

The Nun was released in the United States on September 7, 2018. It received mixed reviews and grossed $366 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of the series. In 2023, a sequel The Nun II, was released.

Plot

edit

In 1952 Romania, two nuns living at the Saint Cartha's monastery are attacked by an unseen evil force. The surviving nun, Sister Victoria, flees from the attacker, a demon appearing as a nun, and hangs herself. Her body is discovered by Frenchie, a villager who transports supplies to the nuns.

The Vatican sends Father Burke with Sister Irene, a nun in her novitiate, to Romania to investigate. The pair meets Frenchie, discover Victoria's body, and take a key from her corpse. Inside the abbey, they meet the Abbess, who informs them that the nuns observe silence during the night so they need to return the next day. That night, Burke is rescued by Irene after being buried alive in the graveyard by the demonic entity.

The next day, Irene and Burke return to the abbey, but only Irene can enter as it is cloistered. She meets the other nuns and learns that they are praying constantly, swapping in shifts, to keep the entity at bay. The abbey was built in the Dark Ages as a castle for the Duke of St. Carta, a powerful aristocrat obsessed with the occult. The duke summoned the demon through a rift in the catacombs but was killed by Christian knights, who sealed the rift with a vial filled with the Blood of Christ. However, the bombings during World War II reopened the rift, unleashing the entity. Burke, through a book that he saw and took after being buried alive, identifies the demon as Valak and discovers the Abbess has been dead all along.

Irene is attacked by Valak and joins the nuns in prayer to ward it off. When she reunites with Burke and Frenchie, she discovers that none of the nuns she had seen and talked to were real and she had been praying alone. Sister Victoria had been the last nun in that abbey and had sacrificed herself to stop Valak from possessing her.

Theorizing that Valak can only be stopped if they seal the rift again with the blood of Christ from the reliquary the same way the knights did, the trio retrieves the vial with Victoria's key. Irene asks Burke to elevate her status to a professed nun, which he does. In the tunnel, she is possessed by Valak but Frenchie smears the blood of Christ on her face, casting out the demon. Valak starts to drown her in a flooded chamber. Irene, who had kept some of Christ's blood from the vial in her mouth, spits it into the demon's face, banishing it as the rift is sealed. Frenchie resuscitates Irene and reveals his real name is Maurice. Unbeknownst to the others, during the attack, Maurice was possessed by Valak.

Twenty years later at a university seminar in Wakefield, Massachusetts, Carolyn Perron watches as Ed and Lorraine Warren present footage of their attempt to exorcise a possessed older Maurice. Maurice grabs Lorraine, showing her a vision of Ed dying, which initiates the Warrens' investigation of the Perron farmhouse haunting.

Cast

edit

Additionally, Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, and Lili Taylor appear in archive footage from The Conjuring as Ed and Lorraine Warren and Carolyn Perron, respectively.

Production

edit

Development

edit

On June 15, 2016, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema announced The Nun, a spin-off film to The Conjuring 2, which had opened five days earlier. Peter Safran and James Wan produced. The initial script for the film was written by David Leslie Johnson.[3] On February 17, 2017, it was announced that Corin Hardy had signed on to direct The Nun with a new screenplay from Wan and Gary Dauberman.[4] During the filming of Annabelle: Creation, Safran revealed that The Nun would chronologically come first in The Conjuring Universe, making it a further prequel to The Conjuring series and Annabelle series. He said, "We have a board that we created that has what we hope will ultimately be our series of movies. We have it in chronological order, so we can keep track of where it all happens."[5]

Casting

edit

On April 5, 2017, Demián Bichir was cast in the film, as a priest investigating a nun's mysterious suicide.[6] Taissa Farmiga was cast shortly after, as a Roman Catholic nun in her novitiate.[7] Corin Hardy later said that he initially did not want to cast Farmiga due to her being the sister of The Conjuring star Vera Farmiga, but changed his mind when he saw her auditions, "I watched 100 auditions for this role and she had some kind of presence outside of her own body that is evident, and she's phenomenal."[8] Bonnie Aarons was then set to reprise her role as the "Demon Nun" character Valak from The Conjuring 2.[9] Charlotte Hope, Jonas Bloquet, and Ingrid Bisu were subsequently announced to star, rounding out the main cast.[10][11][12]

Filming

edit

Principal photography for the film began on May 3, 2017, at Castel Film Studios in Bucharest, Romania, with Maxime Alexandre serving as cinematographer.[13] Film director Corin Hardy had a Roman Catholic priest bless the set prior to filming.[14] Scenes were filmed in the Palace of the Parliament building in June, for a fee of €5,000 per hour.[15] Filming also took place at the Corvin Castle in Hunedoara[16] and in Sighișoara, Transylvania.[17] Hardy saw a handprint in the dust while filming in Mogoșoaia, which he believed to be that of a ghost.[18] Hardy announced on his social media accounts that production had wrapped on June 23, 2017, after 38 days.[19]

Post-production

edit

The Nun reportedly went under extensive reshoots. The Curse of La Llorona cinematographer Michael Burgess had worked on the film.[20] Wan also worked as a second unit director under Hardy.[21]

Music

edit

The original musical score for The Nun was composed by Abel Korzeniowski,[22] and was released on August 31, 2018, by WaterTower Music.

Marketing

edit

On June 13, 2018, a teaser trailer was released.[23] In August 2018, a short advertisement for the film was removed from YouTube due to an unskippable jump scare that violated the platform's "Shocking Content" policies.[24] The studio spent an estimated $90 million on prints and advertisements for the film.[25]

Release

edit

Warner Bros. Pictures had initially scheduled The Nun to be released in the United States on July 13, 2018.[26] In February 2018, it was announced that the film's release date would be pushed back to September 7, 2018.[27] The film was released on Digital HD on November 20, 2018, and on Blu-ray and DVD on December 4, 2018.[28] On May 31, 2022, it was released alongside other The Conjuring Universe movies on Blu-ray, excluding The Curse of Llorona.[29]

Reception

edit

Box office

edit

The Nun grossed $117.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $248.6 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $366 million, against a production budget of $22 million, becoming the highest-grossing film in the franchise.[2] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $155 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[25]

In the United States and Canada, The Nun was released alongside Peppermint and God Bless the Broken Road, and was originally projected to gross $32–37 million in its opening weekend.[30] By the week of its release, forecasts had been increased to $36–45 million from 3,876 theaters.[31] It made $22.4 million on its first day, including $5.4 million from Thursday night previews, both the highest such numbers for The Conjuring films. It went on to debut to $53.8 million, also marking the best figure of the franchise, and became the first film in almost a month to finish ahead of Crazy Rich Asians at the box office.[32]

In other territories, it currently ranks as the highest-grossing horror film of all time in twelve markets, including Indonesia, Brazil, Romania and UAE;[33] in the Philippines, the film was the highest-grossing horror film of all time until it was surpassed by Insidious: The Red Door in 2023.[34][35][36]

Critical response

edit

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 24% of 209 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Nun boasts strong performances, spooky atmospherics, and a couple decent set-pieces, but its sins include inconsistent logic and narrative slackness."[37] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 46 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[38] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of the series.[32]

Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times criticized a lack of consistent narrative logic.[39] Donald Clarke of The Irish Times wrote, "To compare it to a ghost train would be to understate the narrative cohesion that habitually governs those seaside entertainments."[40] Matthew Rozsa for Salon said, "By overly relying on jump scares, The Nun uses a mechanical approach toward instilling fear rather than a more profound understanding of terror."[41] Writing for The A.V. Club, Katie Rife compared it to Gothic horror by Mario Bava and Hammer Films, praising the "giddiness" but criticizing the "heavy-handed" exposition and lack of suspense.[42]

The Plugged In (publication) review for the film summarized the spirituality evident in the film: "Evil is real, the movie tells us, but so is God. Spiritual trappings are everywhere. And when in doubt or danger, you can't go wrong with a little prayer."[43] In her review of the film published in the National Catholic Reporter, Sr. Rose Pacatte, a nun belonging to the Daughters of St. Paul, stated "that there are two Catholic theological aspects of this film that are accurate: one is that the devil exists, and the other is that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, will show us the way."[14] Another religious sister, Nicole Reich, stated in her review of the film published on Syfy Wire that if Valak was a real demon, he would never be able to reveal himself while the "sisters were in perpetual adoration ... because the Lord was present".[44]

Sequel

edit
Main article: The Nun II

In August 2017, Wan discussed the possibility of a Nun sequel and what its storyline might entail: "I do know where potentially, if The Nun works out, where The Nun 2 could lead to and how that ties back to Lorraine's story that we've set up with the first two Conjurings and make it all come full circle."[45]

In April 2019, it was announced by Peter Safran that a sequel was in development. He stated there was a "really fun" storyline planned for the film,[46] and commented that there was an "inevitability to another The Nun movie".[47] Later that month, Akela Cooper signed onto the project as screenwriter, while Safran and James Wan will serve as producers.[48]

On April 26, 2022, Warner Bros. Pictures officially announced the movie as a part of its upcoming slate at the 2022 CinemaCon.[49][50] The following day, it was announced that Michael Chaves will direct the film.[51] Principal photography began on April 29, 2022.[52] Bonnie Aarons was confirmed to be reprising her role as Valak.[53]

On September 8, 2023, the film was released.[54][55]

References

edit
  1. ^ "The Nun (15)". British Board of Film Classification. August 14, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "The Nun (2018)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  3. ^ Kit, Borys (June 16, 2016). "'Conjuring 2' Spinoff 'The Nun' in the Works (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 9, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  4. ^ McNary, Dave (February 2, 2017). "Corin Hardy to Direct 'Conjuring 2' Spinoff 'The Nun'". Variety. Archived from the original on July 2, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  5. ^ Eisenberg, Eric (May 30, 2017). "How Annabelle: Creation Connects Back To The First Movie". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on June 7, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  6. ^ Kit, Borys (April 5, 2017). "Demian Bichir to Star in 'Conjuring' Spinoff 'The Nun' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 9, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  7. ^ McNary, Dave (April 24, 2017). "Taissa Farmiga to Play Titular Role in Horror Movie 'The Nun'". Variety. Archived from the original on April 24, 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  8. ^ Sandwell, Ian (August 29, 2017). "Why Corin Hardy didn't initially want to cast Horror Story star in The Nun". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  9. ^ Kit, Borys (April 26, 2017). "'Conjuring 2' Actress Reprising Demon Nun for New Line's 'The Nun' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 4, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  10. ^ Kit, Borys (May 1, 2017). "'Game of Thrones' Actor Charlotte Hope Joins New Line's 'The Nun' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 6, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  11. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (April 28, 2017). "Jonas Bloquet Joins New Line's 'The Nun'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  12. ^ McNary, Dave (May 3, 2017). "'Toni Erdmann' Star Ingrid Bisu Joins Horror-Thriller 'The Nun'". Variety. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  13. ^ Cureton, Sean (May 1, 2017). "The Conjuring: Nun Spinoff Begins Filming This Week". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  14. ^ a b Pacatte, Rose (September 6, 2018). "One nun's take on horror film 'The Nun'". National Catholic Reporter. Archived from the original on September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  15. ^ Popescu, Irina (April 25, 2017). "Scenes from new Warner Bros horror film to be shot at Romania's famous Parliament's Palace". Romania Insider. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  16. ^ "Romania: thieves break into castle, steal $40,000". Times Colonist. May 2, 2017. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
  17. ^ "Warner Bros films horror movie in Romania". Romania Insider. April 10, 2017. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  18. ^ Rowney, Jo-Anne (August 21, 2018). "25 The Nun movie facts: From forbidden filming to Easter Eggs and the demon Valak". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  19. ^ Hardy, Corin [@corinhardy] (June 22, 2017). "We began filming #TheNun 37 days ago, somehow we have reached the last day, tomorrow..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Marc, Christopher (September 5, 2018). "Annabelle 3 Hires The Curse of La Llorona Cinematographer Michael Burgess". GWW. Archived from the original on September 6, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  21. ^ Collis, Clark (August 11, 2018). "How Aquaman director James Wan wound up helping film The Nun". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  22. ^ "Abel Korzeniowski to Score 'The Conjuring' Spinoff 'The Nun'". Film Music Reporter. September 8, 2017. Archived from the original on August 25, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  23. ^ "First Trailer for 'The Nun' Promises Unholy Scares". Variety. June 13, 2018. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  24. ^ Phillips, Krisitne (August 14, 2018). "YouTube criticized for showing terrifying horror movie ad that viewers couldn't click away from". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  25. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 8, 2019). "Small Movies, Big Profits: 2018 Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 25, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  26. ^ Miska, Brad (February 17, 2017). "'Conjuring' Spinoff 'The Nun' Gets a Friday the 13th Release!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  27. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 14, 2018). "'The Nun' Moves To Warner Bros' New Favorite Spot On Calendar: Post-Labor Day Weekend". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  28. ^ The Nun Blu-ray (Blu-ray + DVD), archived from the original on 2022-09-04, retrieved 2022-09-04
  29. ^ The Conjuring Universe 7-Film Collection Blu-ray (The Nun / Annabelle: Creation / Annabelle / The Conjuring / Annabelle Comes Home / The Conjuring 2 / The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It), archived from the original on 2022-09-04, retrieved 2022-09-04
  30. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (August 16, 2018). "'The Nun' Eyes Hefty $32 Million-Plus Opening Weekend". Variety. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  31. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 4, 2018). "'The Nun' To Fly To $40M+, Eyes Record Opening For 'Conjuring' Franchise – Box Office Preview". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  32. ^ a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 9, 2018). "'The Nun' Hits The Hallelujah With $50M Opening, Best Ever In 'Conjuring' Universe – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  33. ^ ""The Nun" is a Holy Terror at the Box Office, Crossing $300 Million Worldwide | Woman.ph". Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  34. ^ INQUIRER.net BrandRoom (September 18, 2018). "'The Nun' amasses $200M worldwide, P239.8M in PH". InqPOP!. INQUIRER.net. Archived from the original on September 18, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2023. ...[The Nun's] cumulative gross has reached a staggering P239.8-M, after only nine days.
  35. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (July 16, 2023). "'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One' Lights Fuse With $235M Global Bow; 'Elemental', 'Indy 5' & 'Insidious' Hit New Milestones – International Box Office". Deadline. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023. ...Insidious: The Red Door is having a white-hot run in Southeast Asia, having become the highest grossing horror movie of all time in the Philippines with a $6M cume there.
  36. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (July 24, 2023). "'Barbie' An Even Bigger Knockout With $356M+ Global Bow, 'Oppenheimer' Increases Genius To $180M+ WW Launch – International Box Office Actuals Update". Deadline. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  37. ^ "The Nun". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 19, 2024.  
  38. ^ "The Nun". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  39. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (2018-09-05). "Review: In 'The Nun,' a Franchise Resumes Its Scary Habits". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-10-15. Retrieved 2022-10-15. Specters and hallucinations appear without consistent narrative logic.
  40. ^ Clarke, Donald (September 7, 2018). "The Nun: stupid, confusing and scary – but not sexy". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 2022-10-15. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  41. ^ Rozsa, Matthew (2018-09-22). "Why is a mediocre movie like "The Nun" such a hit?". Salon. Archived from the original on 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  42. ^ Rife, Katie (2018-09-06). "The Nun is loud, lurid, and more than a little silly—and that's what makes it fun". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2022-10-15. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  43. ^ Asay, Paul (September 7, 2018). "The Nun Movie Review". Plugged In (publication). Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  44. ^ Busch, Caitlin (September 12, 2018). "Nuns review The Nun". Syfy Wire. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  45. ^ Lammers, Timothy (August 12, 2017). "James Wan Teases The Nun And How A Sequel Would Connect To The Conjuring". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  46. ^ Schaefer, Sandy (April 10, 2019). "The Nun 2 is Being Developed, Has a 'Really Fun' Story". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  47. ^ Collis, Clark (April 10, 2019). "Conjuring producer talks The Nun sequel: 'We have a really fun storyline'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  48. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (April 15, 2019). "The Nun Sequel Sets Luke Cage's Akela Cooper As Screenwriter". Deadline. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  49. ^ Squires, John (April 26, 2022). "'The Nun 2' Confirmed for Upcoming Warner Bros. Slate". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  50. ^ "'The Nun 2' Featured in Sizzle Reel at Warner Bros. CinemaCon Panel". Collider. 2022-04-27. Archived from the original on 2022-04-27. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  51. ^ Miska, Brad (April 27, 2022). "'The Nun 2' – New Line Prays for a Director and Gets Michael Chaves! [Exclusive]". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  52. ^ "The Nun 2 Confirms Production Start and Director". comicbook.com. Archived from the original on 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  53. ^ Squires, John (2022-04-29). "'The Nun 2' – Bonnie Aarons is Back in the Habit for Upcoming Sequel". Bloody Disgusting!. Archived from the original on 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  54. ^ Shaffer, Claire (2023-09-07). "'The Nun II' Review: Back in the Habit". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2023-09-09. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
  55. ^ Harvey, Dennis (2023-09-07). "'The Nun II' Review: Habit-Forming Ghoul Returns in a Diverting Sequel". Variety. Archived from the original on 2023-09-08. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=The_Nun_(2018_film)&oldid=1257547974"