I owe Michael Chaves an apology. I’ve publicly denounced his involvement in The Conjuring franchise way too many times. (He didn’t exactly make it hard, though.) But with Last Rites, he’s proven me dead wrong, and I couldn’t be happier.
The Conjuring: Last Rites is the final film of the central franchise, revolving around the extremely sensationalised Smurl Family Haunting in Pennsylvania. It is 1986, and the Warrens have gracefully aged into their roles as famed (and controversial) paranormal investigators, becoming punching bags of rowdy teenagers, and the focus of skeptics in a rapidly modernising world. Ed’s heart condition has forced them off the frontlines and to retreat into the world of lectures and interviews. Judy Warren, their daughter, drawn into the shadow of her parents’ legacy, is forced to confront the demons she may have inherited from them – pulling the family in for a final, fateful reckoning.
This time around, horror cinema’s favourite couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren, face their most formidable foe yet: an actual demonic mirror. Now I know what you’re thinking. I thought the same. But the motivations behind the mirror actually work for the story being told and it even makes for some pretty neat symbolism by the end. Sure, the final showdown gets a little campy, but it still slots snugly into the franchise’s box of creative liberties.
Valak was entirely fiction, and Annabelle’s porcelain design was purely for the movies. Heck, Ed didn’t actually come face to face with a 7 foot tall “Crooked Man.” For these movies to work, you are going to have to suspend some disbelief. (Go watch a documentary for the facts – Apple TV+’s The Enfield Poltergeist is not a bad pick.)
The Conjuring films have always been more about the Warrens than the hauntings themselves. That has been the key difference between this franchise and other haunted house fares (even James Wan’s Insidious films!). People love the chemistry that Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson bring to the screen in their performances as Ed and Lorraine Warren. (The Conjuring 2 is one of the most romantic horror films ever made and that is a hill I will proudly die on. Wilson sings a cover of Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love over a ghost-hunting montage. Come on!)
Chaves leans into that strength here, by centering the film on the Warrens but delivers a natural progression to that dynamic. With Judy now a central character, we don’t just see Ed as the loyal husband, but as a father looking out for his baby girl. Lorraine isn’t just the clairvoyant wife, but a mother coming to terms with what she’s passed down to her daughter. In many ways, it is an evolution of the love story that was set up in the first two films, and it works really well in framing the finale of the franchise. (And yes, the third film doesn’t count.) The Smurl family haunting actually runs parallel to the Warrens’ own story, and the case actually truly starts about an hour into the film. That was a very risky move, but worked in favor of the film, especially with the Warrens at the forefront.
Let’s address the (demon) elephant in the room: Last Rites is not as scary as the first two films. It’s scarier than the third but that’s a pretty low bar to begin with. Then again, it doesn’t have to be scarier than the first two to be an enjoyable time at the cinema. Scarier does not always equate to it being better. I would say that the first two Conjuring films are masterclasses in modern horror, nothing’s topping that. What Last Rites does pull off are some smart, inventive jolts that got me multiple times. I thought that they managed to craft a cohesive, unrelenting atmosphere that gave the film its own identity. There are also nods to the first two films that I thought were done really well.
Technically, Chaves (finally!) comes into his own here. There are some good cinematography choices – even a oner that nods back to the first film. The mood is set, the sound design is polished, and the film is edited well. It rips and roars through its 135 minute runtime without feeling sluggish or draggy at any point. There was an especially memorable scare that was technically impressive: Judy’s trying out a wedding dress in a dressing room that has mirrors for walls, so we see this scare by way of a big infinity mirror. That was pretty cool.
As for nitpicks, I do have a few. A distinctive aspect that made the first two films so good was that the motivations of the actual spirits and demons were fleshed out. Bathsheba from the first film was a witch who sacrificed her newborn child; Bill Wilkins from the second film was an old man that was being puppeteered by an inhuman spirit. In this film, we don’t get much of that. There are about three minutes of exposition on what the spirits are. We don’t actually know who the demon actually is, besides the fact that it originates from the mirror. I think the final showdown would have been a lot more impactful if the “lore” of it all was explored a little more.
The Conjuring: Last Rites is not a flawless farewell, but a fitting one. By having the Warrens be the subject of the film, Chaves reminds us why these films mattered at all: not just the demons, but the love that made facing them possible. It’s a well-deserved ending as horror cinema’s favourite couple ride off into the sunset. It is romantic, scary, and heartfelt as hell.
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