Review: “The Nun” Spreads Gothic Terror to Its Viewers
After audiences got their first frightful glimpse of the demonic Nun Valak, who plagued Lorraine Warren’s visions and filled her with dread in the horror hit “The Conjuring 2”. In “The Nun”, the epic battle of good vs. evil pits a priest with a dark history and a novitiate whose own past isn’t the only thing that haunts her against the blasphemy that is the Demon Nun. The unholy evil in holy guise is back in the horror thriller “The Nun”, the latest chapter stemming from James Wan’s “Conjuring” universe, with an entire film dedicated to the origin of her horrifying visage. Even though receiving several doubts in jump scare scenes domination and plot, The Nun is worth to wait. “The Nun” explores another dark corner of the “Conjuring” universe, whose record-setting films have terrified audiences around the globe. The idea that something held as sacred and pure as a nun could become twisted in such an evil, supernatural way disturbs people at a very core level.
“The Nun” was filmed entirely in Romania, in practical locations in and around Bucharest and Transylvania, notably two 14th-century castles and an abandoned medieval fort, which contributed to the authentic classic horror aesthetic. Throughout the film, the nuns in the Abbey of St. Carta appear in various forms of distress and fear, as Sister Irene tries to uncover the truth about the evil lurking there and about a mysterious key Sister Victoria was clutching when she died. A young nun at an abbey in Transylvania has committed the ultimate sin: taking her own life. Now it is imperative that the church determine if the ground is still holy, or if evil has compromised the Abbey of St. Carta. To address the dire situation, the Vatican enlists the expertise of Father Burke, a clergyman from Philadelphia and one of only a few skilled in testing the validity of miracles and darker phenomenon.
In the beginning, it started with lots of jump-scares and we almost agreed with what the movie promised earlier. It was predictable as almost all ‘Conjuring’ series always give great jump-scares. Later on, the film develops to be more than that. The viewers would be able to uncover the story behind the foul spirit that haunts the living. We got to see the journey of Father Burke and Sister Irene to extinguish the demon in Romania. As Sister Irene and Father Burke depart Rome and leave the modern world of 1952 behind for the small village of Biertan in Transylvania, it is as if the clock has turned back and they are entering the Medieval ages. A dirt road is the main thoroughfare and their guide’s mode of transportation is a horse-drawn wagon. Frenchie, as he is known in town, is a local and can take them to the abbey. He is also the unlucky soul who discovered the suicide while delivering supplies there. Frenchie informs them he was wary of the abbey, just like the rest of the townspeople, long before he found a body there.
Although it stands out in its gothic flavor, “The Nun” still follows an underlying style in the tradition of all the “Conjuring” films. A distinctive quality of “The Nun” resulted from the different camera choices used to frame visually the main characters’ different points of view which there is Father Burke’s journey and Sister Irene’s journey. Using a gothic Romanian castle as the setting, it increases the spooky atmosphere of the movie. In the end, some of you might be proven wrong after finding out the demonic Nun’s true identity. Another thing that makes us content with this movie is, there will be thousands of “The Nun” memes on the internet!
Reviewer: Audy Prasetya/Editor: Novita Widia
