The Conjuring: Last Rites (dir. Michael Chaves)
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 135 mins
UK Distributor: Warner Bros
UK Release Date: 5 September 2025
WHO’S IN THE CONJURING: LAST RITES?
Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Steve Coulter, Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan, Kíla Lord Cassidy, Beau Gadsdon, John Brotherton, Shannon Kook
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Michael Chaves (director), Ian Goldberg, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Richard Naing (writers), Peter Safran and James Wan (producers), Benjamin Wallfisch (composer), Eli Born (cinematographer), Elliot Greenberg and Gregory Plotkin (editors)
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The Warrens (Farmiga and Wilson) take on their most terrifying case yet…
WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON THE CONJURING: LAST RITES?
A rule of thumb in horror is to never entirely believe whenever a long-running franchise promises in its very title that its latest entry will be the last one. Jason Voorhees was seemingly killed off in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, only to be promptly resurrected a couple of movies later. Freddy Krueger certainly didn’t stay dead, even after Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. And while so far there hasn’t been a theatrical follow-up to Halloween Ends, there is murmur of a television series in development which will almost certainly bring Michael Myers back in some form.
But with The Conjuring: Last Rites, there is much more of a sense of finality to Ed and Lorraine Warren’s long journey of paranormal investigation, in director Michael Chaves’ latest entry that goes out of its way to tell the viewer that this is where it ends for them. Given that it also feels like a Conjuring Universe victory lap in a lot of areas, albeit one that still manages to get in some good moments every so often, the film could also serve as a farewell to this cinematic universe… if it weren’t for the fact that, as per horror franchise rules, there almost certainly will be more movies, even if it’s without the Warrens.
Taking place in 1986, Ed and Lorraine (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga respectively) have basically retired from their profession, since their popularity has faded in a post-Ghostbusters world that now sees people like them as more of a joke, while their now-adult daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) is engaged to her boyfriend Tony (Ben Hardy). However, when the Smurl family in Pennsylvania starts being tormented by malevolent spirits within their house, all of which might have something to do with a demonic-looking mirror they’ve recently purchased – the same one that a younger Ed and Lorraine encounter in an emotionally charged prologue – the Warrens are eventually persuaded to step back into the supernatural game one last time for what turns out to be their most personal case of all.
It isn’t exactly hyperbole when describing The Conjuring: Last Rites as a franchise victory lap, because the film seems to be largely made up of numerous elements from previous films in the franchise that could almost label it as a greatest-hits compilation. It adopts the basic framework of the first movie – a large family unit being haunted by all the spooky goings-on in their house – as well as some of the same shots like a one-take establishing shot introducing them all one by one, and steadies it at a similar slow-burn pace to the second, to where it comes in at roughly the same two-hour-plus runtime. The film even finds ways to crowbar in former supporting characters either as throwaway cameos or integral players, not to mention a brief appearance by the unofficial franchise mascot that is the Annabelle doll because, well, it’s a Conjuring movie.
However, Chaves still remembers to actually give this film enough of its own flavour and manages to make it watchable despite the constant familiarity. There are some genuinely spooky scenes in and around this house that are well-shot and strongly edited, by far the most effective that the director has brought to this franchise after previous underwhelming instalments, and even if you’re familiar with this particular real-life case as well as the Warrens’ own history, you still feel as though there are genuine stakes among these characters as they are physically and spiritually compromised in ways they may not have been in past movies. While it wouldn’t be accurate to say that the movie is as scary as other Conjuring movies, it definitely retains their eerie atmosphere and stylish use of normal household items for supernatural tomfoolery, including a chilling moment involving a VHS tape that will certainly drudge up some traumatic memories of pausing and rewinding to get a precise image (kids today with their streaming and Blu-Rays will never know the struggle of our pre-MP4 file times).
Chaves also recognises that the best part of these movies is, indeed, the unbreakable connection between Ed and Lorraine Warren, and given that The Conjuring: Last Rites has been touted as their final-ever outing, it spends a great deal of time with them to make sure we get as much of them as possible before their (supposedly) last bow. Wilson and Farmiga are and always have been great together as characters who are always there for one another in the darkest of moments, and here they share some nice tender moments that are certainly bittersweet but nonetheless filled with plenty of heart. Mia Tomlinson and Ben Hardy are also very likeable as the new couple who will likely take over as the lead investigators in any future movies, a torch that you can practically feel being passed over by the older generation in a way that wraps up their story with enough satisfaction for audiences who have been with them since the beginning.
There are certainly some good things about, but also some less good things, namely its often-distracting callbacks that remind you more of the better movies in this universe than the one you’re meant to be watching. If The Conjuring: Last Rites is indeed it for the Warrens, Annabelle et al, then it’s a perfectly serviceable finale that has things both good and not-so-good about it, but retains plenty of heart and warmth to end things on a satisfying enough note. Just to be safe, however, don’t fully believe the notion that this is the last we’ll ever step into this universe.
SO, TO SUM UP…
The Conjuring: Last Rites is a serviceable finale (for now) to the franchise that occasionally feels too much like a victory lap of its greatest hits, but retains enough of the heart and scares to wrap things up neatly while leaving room for a potential, sadly Warren-free future.
Other recent reviews:
0 Comments