Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.0

The Nun II Blu-ray Movie Review

The Exorcist for dummies.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 12, 2023

The eighth film in James Wan's apparently ever-expanding "Conjuring" universe -- because we can never have too many ever-expanding cinematic universes, can we? -- Michael Chaves' The Nun II is tied with 2021's The Devil Made Me Do It (also directed by Chaves, ouch) as perhaps the franchise's least worthwhile entry. This one's more a loosely stitched-together series of formulaic jump scares with the bare minimum of plot than an actual movie, barely justifying its existence during 110 mostly forgettable minutes. It's not quite as boring as Mass, but it's awfully close.

I'll keep this one mercifully short, because The Nun II sure doesn't. It's more a "real-time" sequel than an immediate one, taking place in 1956 France where a priest is burned to death by a mysterious entity while young Jacques (Maxime Elias-Menet) watches in horror. This prompts an investigation by the Catholic church and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), after seeing a vision, is recruited to confirm the return of the demon Valek, and for some reason is permitted to bring her impossibly boring new friend Debra (Storm Reid) along to help. Meanwhile, Maurice (Jonas Bloquet) now works at a nearby boarding school and has befriended young Sophie (Katelyn Rose Downey) and her single mother Kate (Anna Popplewell). As Irene and Debra conduct their investigation, the students are terrorized by an entity that seems to lurk in the eye of a stained-glass image, among other places, and may or may not have possessed poor Maurice.

Peppered with very fleeting moments of plot and intrigue, The Nun II quickly reveals itself to be a series of gratingly repetitive scenes where characters walk into dark rooms (whether in search of someone specific or just exploring), look around in fright, and see a demon or demonic form that either kills them or frightens them away. I lost count of how many times this happened, but one particular stretch of the film relied on this formula back-to-back for the better part of 30 minutes. Some are admittedly well-staged, but most are either eye-rolling or, well, boring due to their repetitive regularity. This makes The Nun II a true test of patience, more of a shallow thrill ride than anything more substantial. Add in a bit of lightweight Indiana Jones-style artifact hunting, a few blatant swipes from The Shining and other genre classics, and you've got a recipe for horror mediocrity that hopefully isn't pointing towards a third installment.

Warner Bros. presents The Nun II as separate 4K and Blu-ray editions (no more combo packs, per company policy), each offering a proportionately good-to-great A/V presentation but almost no real bonus features. It's clearly not the most recommended blind buy and received an equally unenthusiastic theatrical review from our own Brian Orndorf, although die-hard Conjuring disciples might enjoy themselves a bit more. (Probably not much, though.)

The Nun II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As usual, my review of the separately-available 4K edition offers a cursory overview of The Nun II's visual aesthetic, which relies heavily on low natural light and deep shadows rather than punchy colors and razor-sharp fine detail. This normally spells disaster -- or at least trouble -- for less skillfully-encoded Blu-rays but thankfully The Nun II isn't one of them... and while it does show a bit more banding than the 4K disc and even black crush during select sequences, it's certainly not overwhelming and actually holds up pretty well on the lesser format. It's clearly a second-place transfer in direct comparison but proportionately a satisfying effort, all things considered, one that renders its occasionally tricky source material capably enough to pass muster on small to mid-sized displays. Any larger than that and you'll see a greater variance between the two, so know your setup's strengths and limitations before choosing which one to buy... because unfortunately as of earlier this year, Warner Bros.' doesn't bother with combo packs any more.

The Nun II Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dolby Atmos presentation is frequently quite a bit more far-reaching than the mostly reserved visuals, with a true theater-quality presence that gives some of The Nun II's chillier moments an undeniably hefty amount of power. If I have one complaint, it's that the bass sounds a touch overcooked during some of these pre-jumpscare sequences; I get that the film's sound design uses these lowest frequencies to establish tension, but it could've exercised more subtlety (although in all fairness it probably only stuck out due to the film's overreliance on a repetitive formula). This is a pretty modest nitpick, though, as the majority of The Nun II is supported strongly by discrete channel separation -- including the height channels, which are used semi-regularly due to the location's many high ceilings -- as well as crisp dialogue and a terrific dynamic range for the original score. By and large, it follows most of the sonic rules set by other films in the Conjuring universe... so if you liked how those sounded, you should know more or less to expect here.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature and both extras listed below.

The Nun II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with gloomy cover art, a matching slipcover, and a Digital Copy redemption code. Bonus features are limited to just two short behind-the-scenes featurettes -- and though I wasn't itching to dig through any more, it'll a lackluster haul considering the film's decent box-office haul and extended universe.

• The Nun II: Demon in Paradise (5:04) - Would that title have made a more interesting film? Probably. This promotional featurette offers a quick look behind the scenes, with bits and pieces of concept/storyboard artwork, on-set footage, and brief interview snippets with producer James Wan, director Michael Chaves, actor Taissa Farmiga, production designer Stephane Cressend, costume designer Agnes Beziers, and others.

• Handcrafted Nightmares (7:02) - This slightly more in-depth piece again features producer James Wan and director Michael Chaves, who speak about the central villain's look, the decision to use mostly practical effects, and the "magazine newsstand" scene, the latter of which includes some rehearsal and setup footage.

The Nun II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Michael Chaves' The Nun II takes a step backwards from the already underwhelming first film, offering admittedly decent atmospherics but very little else. The story is paper-thin, the scares are predictable and extremely repetitive, and the supporting characters are mostly bland and uninspired. It all adds up to a middling effort that barely justifies its own existence, let alone even more future sequels. Warner Bros.' separate Blu-ray and 4K editions each offer solid A/V presentations but almost no extras for their staggeringly high asking prices. For established fans only.