Comedies end with weddings. Tragedies end with funerals. But The Conjuring Universe just went out on Bring Your Daughter to Work Day in “The Conjuring: Last Rites.” Directed by Michael Chaves, it’s a messy but fun-enough swan song for the cinematic Ed and Lorraine Warren — who’ve helped Annabelle and The Nun make Warner Bros. more than $2 billion at the series’ lifetime box office.
The married paranormal investigators have been played successfully by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga ever since James Wan cracked the studio’s concept for a so-called “true story” in 2013. The actors’ fourth “Conjuring” film gives their take on the controversial spiritualists a surprisingly upbeat exit with the Smurl case: a notorious Pennsylvania haunting that devastated a suburban family throughout the ’70s and ’80s. In the film, a vicious combination of demons and ghosts come to terrorize the eight unlucky Smurl souls when an evil mirror enters their home in the form of a possessed gift, given to a girl for Catholic Confirmation.
Related Stories
“Last Rites” should theoretically tie off the “Conjuring” franchise for good, but its script (co-written by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick) leaves that door open by finally casting the clairvoyant Judy Warren as an adult. Scene-stealer Mia Tomlinson could take over The Conjuring Universe from Wilson and Farmiga, no doubt. She’s got real chemistry with her fellow series newcomer, Ben Hardy, who plays the Warrens’ eventual son-in-law Tony Spera. And although she’s just starting to get serious about the exorcism business here, Judy makes for a magnetic hero you want to see more.
With the bullish determination of Ed and the wide-eyed second sight of Lorraine, the Warrens’ only child sells a clear vision of right and wrong when news of the Smurls’ predicament comes their way. Judy’s parents have wanted to retire for years, and ever since their daughter started getting her own spectral signals, Lorraine has done everything she can to convince her to shut them out. But a divine purpose has compelled Ed and Lorraine to fight the devil for decades, and around the time another brave young woman, Dawn Smurl (Beau Gadsdon, also a standout), suddenly starts puking up shards of glass in the family’s kitchen sink, Judy knows the Warrens can’t stop their god-fearing mission now.
The real Ed and Lorraine had close ties to the Church, and they’ve been softly praised and heavily criticized for their controversial work with the occult. Ed died years before the original film was made, but the late Lorraine consulted on the first two movies. The overly rosy portrait “The Conjuring” franchise has repeatedly painted of these divisive public figures leaves a lot out.
For one thing, gatekeeping “evidence” in the basement of their Connecticut home has lead several research organizations to claim the Warrens didn’t want their findings properly vetted. What’s more, they’ve been accused of doing more harm than good to family’s in crisis. Over the years, allegations have ranged from reckless misrepresentations of the truth to instances of explicit abuse that will always inform the memory of Ed. Taking time to watch the problematic patriarch and fres-fashed Toby play ping pong — then following Lorraine and Judy to pick out a wedding dress, where an apparition awaits — “Last Rites” is almost egregiously affectionate towards the Warrens in light of that legacy.
Also behind “The Devil Made Me Do It” (2021) and “The Nun II” (2023), Chaves’ third franchise effort is a kind of double-date that should convince audiences with any preexisting feelings about Warner Bros.’ hit-or-miss horror universe to change their minds, one way or the other. If, like me, you were ready to put The Conjuring films to rest long ago, Last Rites offers the heart the other entries missed — and it might just tempt you back for one more. But if you’re all-in on the familiar haunted house formulas of old, this finale will feel like a sentimental but seriously low-scare disappointment you wish you could put back.
Assuming you’re able to ignore the morally objectionable realities underpinning “Last Rites,” Chaves captures his cast’s best moments in broad daylight. Wilson and Farmiga are as into each other as ever, and watching the pair scoot down a backcountry lane on a motorcycle, you’ll feel happy the fictional couple got a chance to say goodbye. Sly jokes and cute cameos sprinkle the rest of the film like holy water, and Wan himself even appears in a pleasantly pandering concluding scene that nails the spirit of fan service. And yet, introducing new antagonists through a muddled mystery, the core Conjuring mythology nearly cracks beyond repair.
In competition with Mike Flanagan’s entire career for the single longest fight with a mirror ever put on film (that’s a joke about “Oculus,” look it up), “Last Rites” is interminably goofy. That’s a nice surprise for those of us who are tired of pretending that rocking chairs and flickering flashlights were ever scary — but a brutal slap in the face for anyone still taking these con-artist ghost busters seriously. An exquisite beat of megalophobia resurrects Annabelle in a terrifying light, but Chaves mainly recycles the haunted toy concept to the underwhelming film’s detriment. Suffice to say, I’m rarely one to agree with the current administration, but in this one context, Donald Trump was right, and beautiful 11-year-old baby girls do not need that many dolls.
Still, “Last Rites” has a sense of humor and that’s worth watching if you’re up for a laugh instead of a scream. You’ll cackle when a light fixture inexplicably comes crashing down on some poor Smurl’s head at the dinner table, and the decision to zombify CNN’s Larry King for a primetime interview with the fearful Pennsylvania family is bizarre but worthy of a reaction. Canoodling more than we’ve ever seen Ed and Lorraine canoodle before, Wilson and Farmiga also seem to have a blast wrapping up their portrayals in a movie clearly created with their stardom in mind.
Whatever comes next for The Conjuring Universe will be up to Warner Bros. — and maybe the real Judy and Tony Spera. They’re still around and, wait for it, selling Annabelle-themed vodka that’s been aged 30 days in front of the haunted doll’s dusty glass case at the Warrens’ “museum” in Connecticut. Serve it a wedding! Serve it a funeral! Hell, serve it at the next unholy Bring Your Daughter to Work Day — liquor laws, eternal damnation, and divided “Last Rites” audiences notwithstanding.
Grade: C+
From Warner Bros. Pictures, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” is in theaters now.
Want to stay up to date on IndieWire’s film reviews and critical thoughts? Subscribe here to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best new reviews and streaming picks along with some exclusive musings — all only available to subscribers.
