‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ Movie Review: The Third Best ‘Conjuring’ But A Lovely Farewell To The Warrens
Photo from Warner Bros.
From Jeremy Kibler
If horror movies were awarded superlatives, The Conjuring: Last Rites would win for “Best Couple.” The fictionalized versions of Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, are like horror fans’ parents, and as this franchise has winded down, their relationship has become even more of a focal point. Their introductions in James Wan’s The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 made us fall in love with them, and The Conjuring: Last Rites is a lovely farewell. Oh, and the scares are effectively hair-raising when they show up.
The last Conjuring movie not directed by Wan, 2021’s solid The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, was more of a murder procedural with possession leanings. This time, the film follows the case that more or less bookended the Warrens’ career as paranormal investigators, until bringing it to an official end. When we first see Ed and Lorraine, it’s 1964, and they’re dealing with a haunted mirror. They’re younger (being played by Orion Smith and Madison Lawlor) and about to bring their daughter Judy into this world. Instead of de-aging Wilson and Farmiga, Smith and notably Lawlor give it their all.
From that prologue, the film continues into 1986, establishing the Smurl family in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. Once that same ornate, cherub-bordered (and seriously ugly) mirror gets brought into the home as a confirmation present for daughter Heather (Kíla Lord Cassidy), parents Janet (Rebecca Calder) and Jack (Elliot Cowan), as well as their eldest daughter, twin daughters, and Jack’s parents, are all haunted by three evil entities. Good thing Father Gordon (Steve Coulter) has the Warrens on speed dial. Meanwhile, after Ed’s heart attack, the Warrens aren’t taking on any new cases but still teach about their paranormal findings in poorly attended university lecture halls (a certain ghost-busting comedy has made them a bit of a joke). Their daughter, Judy (Mia Tomlinson), is now an adult but still cursed with her mother’s ability to have visions (Lorraine has luckily taught her a nursery rhyme-type trick to recite and shut out the demons). When the Smurl haunting keeps getting worse and hits close to home, the Warrens may have a change of heart helping another family.
Director Michael Chaves has been with “The Conjuring Universe” since the tenuously linked The Curse of La Llorona, going on to direct the last Conjuring film and The Nun II. Here, his direction is skilled and even more polished, and he and writers Ian Goldberg & Richard Naing and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick do a capable job of balancing character and the spooky goings-on. Before the Smurls even get terrorized, the viewer gets a sense of the loving dynamic in this crowded household where everyone is on top of each other; they may not be as well-developed as the Perrons or the Hodgsons, but they at least feel like a real family. For audiences who just want to be rattled, Chaves excels here in key scare sequences involving a John Wayne painting in a basement, a crawling baby doll, the cord of a landline telephone, the late-night playback on a VHS tape, and a hall-of-mirrors fitting room in a bridal shop. An old friend we’ve missed might even make an appearance. Nothing here holds the simply scary power of a clap, but Chaves still has a way with playfully timing his jolts.
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga can’t help but be great, sliding back into playing Ed and Lorraine, this time with a little more weariness but still plenty of warm humanity and selflessness. We root for them to save one more family, including their own, and whenever Lorraine enters a dark basement or bedroom, Farmiga’s presence makes us feel safe. Though the role has been recast already once before from Sterling Jerins to Mckenna Grace, British newcomer Mia Tomlinson takes over in playing an older version of Judy Warren. She’s enormously appealing and fresh-faced, carrying over the qualities of what Wilson and Farmiga bring to these parts. By her side is Ben Hardy, who’s so likable and charming as Judy’s boyfriend Tony, an ex-cop; his asking for Ed and Lorraine’s blessing at Ed’s birthday party is a sweet moment of levity.
The three demonic vessels responsible for haunting and hurting the Smurl family are creepy faces in the dark and the light. While their ghoulish grins are ingrained in the mind, too much screen time sometimes gives way to noticing more CG enhancements than practical make-up. Once all of the narrative threads finally come together, the third act builds wonderful tension when cross-cutting between different rooms in the Smurl house. Chaves even gets to show off a little behind the camera, not unlike Sam Raimi in The Evil Dead, as things come to a fever pitch.
In step with James Wan’s approach on The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, director Chaves does not have the single-minded intent to just spook his audience (although he knows how to do that, too). There’s also care and attention made to the people involved. These films never end on a jump scare to tease more to come, and The Conjuring: Last Rites is no different, concluding on a graceful and poignant note of a happy foreseeable future with more grandchildren than ghosts. This might be the third best Conjuring film, and allegedly the last, but it’s also the most moving for completists. After all, the Warrens’ love for each other and for their daughter has always been the glue holding all of the ghost-chasing together.
Rating: 3.5/5
The Conjuring: Last Rites hits theaters on September 5, 2025.
