Wikipedia

The Nun(2018 film)

The Nunis a 2018 Americangothicsupernatural horror filmdirected byCorin Hardyand written byGary Dauberman,from a story by Dauberman andJames Wan.It serves as aspiritual spin-offtoThe Conjuring 2and is the fifth installment inThe Conjuringshared universe.The film starsTaissa Farmiga,Demián BichirandJonas Bloquet,withBonnie Aaronsreprising her role as the Demon Nun, an incarnation ofValak,fromThe Conjuring 2.The plot follows a Roman Catholic priest and anunin hernovitiateas they uncover an unholy secret in 1952Romania.It is followed by a sequelThe Nun II,released in 2023.

The Nun
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCorin Hardy
Screenplay byGary Dauberman
Story by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMaxime Alexandre
Edited by
  • Michel Aller
  • Ken Blackwell
Music byAbel Korzeniowski
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • September 4, 2018(2018-09-04)(TCL Chinese Theatre)
  • September 7, 2018(2018-09-07)(United States)
Running time
96 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$22million[2]
Box office$366million[2]

Warner Bros. PicturesandNew Line CinemaannouncedThe Nun,a spin-off film toThe Conjuring 2,which had opened five days earlier, with Peter Safran and Wan producing. The initial script for the film was written byDavid Leslie Johnson.Hardy had signed on to directThe Nunwith a new screenplay from Wan and Dauberman.Principal photographybegan in May 2017 inBucharest,Romania.

The Nunwas released in the United States on September 7, 2018. It received mixed reviews and grossed $366million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of theConjuringseries. In 2023, a sequelThe Nun II,was released.

Plot

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In 1952Romania,twoRoman Catholicnuns living at theSaint Cartha's monasteryare attacked by an unseen evil force. The surviving nun, Sister Victoria, flees from the attacker, a demon appearing as a nun, and hangs herself. Her body is discovered by Frenchie, a villager who transports supplies to the nuns.

The Vaticansends Father Burke with Sister Irene, a nun in hernovitiate,to Romania to investigate. The pair meets Frenchie, discover Victoria's body, and take a key from her corpse. Inside the abbey, they meet theAbbess,who informs them that the nuns observe silence during the night so they need to return the next day. That night, Burke is rescued by Irene after beingburied alivein the graveyard by the demonic entity.

The next day, Irene and Burke return to the abbey, but only Irene can enter as it iscloistered.She meets the other nuns and learns that they are praying constantly, swapping in shifts, to keep the entity at bay. The abbey was built in theDark Agesas a castle for the Duke of St. Carta, a powerfularistocratobsessed with the occult. The duke summoned the demon through a rift in the catacombs but was killed byChristian knights,who sealed the rift with a vial filled with theBlood of Christ.However, thebombings during World War IIreopened the rift, unleashing the entity. Burke, through a book that he saw and took after being buried alive, identifies the demon asValakand discovers the Abbess has been dead all along.

Irene is attacked by Valak and joins the nuns in prayer to ward it off. When she reunites with Burke and Frenchie, she discovers that none of the nuns she had seen and talked to were real and she had been praying alone. Sister Victoria had been the last nun in that abbey and had sacrificed herself to stop Valak frompossessingher.

Theorizing that Valak can only be stopped if they seal the rift again with the blood of Christ from the reliquary the same way the knights did, the trio retrieves the vial with Victoria's key. Irene asks Burke to elevate her status to a professed nun, which he does. In the tunnel, she is possessed by Valak but Frenchie smears the blood of Christ on her face, casting out the demon. Valak starts to drown her in a flooded chamber. Irene, who had kept some of Christ's blood from the vial in her mouth, spits it into the demon's face, banishing it as the rift is sealed. Frenchie resuscitates Irene and reveals his real name is Maurice. Unbeknownst to the others, during the attack, Maurice was possessed by Valak.

Twenty years later at a university seminar inWakefield, Massachusetts,Carolyn Perron watches asEd and Lorraine Warrenpresent footage of their attempt to exorcise a possessed older Maurice. Maurice grabs Lorraine, showing her a vision of Ed dying, which initiatesthe Warrens' investigation of the Perron farmhouse haunting.

Cast

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Additionally,Patrick Wilson,Vera Farmiga,andLili Taylorappear in archive footage fromThe ConjuringasEd and Lorraine Warrenand Carolyn Perron, respectively.

Production

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Development

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On June 15, 2016,Warner Bros. PicturesandNew Line CinemaannouncedThe Nun,a spin-off film toThe Conjuring 2,which had opened five days earlier.Peter SafranandJames Wanproduced. The initial script for the film was written byDavid Leslie Johnson.[3]On February 17, 2017, it was announced thatCorin Hardyhad signed on to directThe Nunwith a new screenplay from Wan andGary Dauberman.[4]During the filming ofAnnabelle: Creation,Safran revealed thatThe Nunwould chronologically come first inThe ConjuringUniverse,making it a further prequel toThe Conjuringseries andAnnabelleseries. He said, "We have a board that we created that has what we hope will ultimately be our series of movies. We have it in chronological order, so we can keep track of where it all happens."[5]

Casting

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On April 5, 2017,Demián Bichirwas cast in the film, as a priest investigating a nun's mysterious suicide.[6]Taissa Farmigawas cast shortly after, as a Roman Catholic nun in her novitiate.[7]Corin Hardy later said that he initially did not want to cast Farmiga due to her being the sister ofThe ConjuringstarVera Farmiga,but changed his mind when he saw her auditions, "I watched 100 auditions for this role and she had some kind of presence outside of her own body that is evident, and she's phenomenal."[8]Bonnie Aaronswas then set to reprise her role as the "Demon Nun" characterValakfromThe Conjuring 2.[9]Charlotte Hope,Jonas Bloquet,andIngrid Bisuwere subsequently announced to star, rounding out the main cast.[10][11][12]

Filming

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Principal photographyfor the film began on May 3, 2017, atCastel Film StudiosinBucharest,Romania, withMaxime Alexandreserving as cinematographer.[13]Film directorCorin Hardyhad a Roman Catholic priestblessthe set prior to filming.[14]Scenes were filmed in thePalace of the Parliamentbuilding in June, for a fee of €5,000 per hour.[15]Filming also took place at theCorvin CastleinHunedoara[16]and inSighișoara,Transylvania.[17]Hardy saw a handprint in the dust while filming inMogoșoaia,which he believed to be that of aghost.[18]Hardy announced on his social media accounts that production had wrapped on June 23, 2017, after 38 days.[19]

Post-production

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The Nunreportedly went under extensive reshoots.The Curse of La Lloronacinematographer Michael Burgess had worked on the film.[20]Wan also worked as asecond unit directorunder Hardy.[21]

Music

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The originalmusical scoreforThe Nunwas composed byAbel Korzeniowski,[22]and was released on August 31, 2018, byWaterTower Music.

Marketing

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On June 13, 2018, ateaser trailerwas released.[23]In August 2018, a shortadvertisementfor the film was removed fromYouTubedue to an unskippablejump scarethat violated the platform's "Shocking Content" policies.[24]The studio spent an estimated $90million on prints and advertisements for the film.[25]

Home media

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The film was released on Digital HD on November 20, 2018, and onBlu-rayandDVDon December 4, 2018.[26]On May 31, 2022, it was released alongside otherThe ConjuringUniversemovies on Blu-ray, excludingThe Curse of Llorona.[27]

Reception

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Box office

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The Nungrossed $117.4million in the United States and Canada, and $248.6million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $366million, against a production budget of $22million, becoming the highest-grossing film in thefranchise.[2]Deadline Hollywoodcalculated the net profit of the film to be $155million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[25]

In the United States and Canada,The Nunwas released alongsidePeppermintandGod Bless the Broken Road,and was originally projected to gross $32–37million in its opening weekend.[28]By the week of its release, forecasts had been increased to $36–45million from 3,876 theaters.[29]It made $22.4million on its first day, including $5.4million from Thursday night previews, both the highest such numbers forThe Conjuringfilms. It went on to debut to $53.8million, also marking the best figure of the franchise, and became the first film in almost a month to finish ahead ofCrazy Rich Asiansat the box office.[30]

In other territories, it currently ranks as the highest-grossing horror film of all time in twelve markets, includingIndonesia,Brazil, Romania and UAE;[31]in thePhilippines,the film was the highest-grossing horror film of all time until it was surpassed byInsidious: The Red Doorin 2023.[32][33][34]

Critical response

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On thereview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes,24% of 209 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Nunboasts strong performances, spooky atmospherics, and a couple decent set-pieces, but its sins include inconsistent logic and narrative slackness. "[35]Metacritic,which uses aweighted average,assigned the film a score of 46 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[36]Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of the series.[30]

Ben Kenigsberg ofThe New York Timescriticized a lack of consistent narrative logic.[37]Donald Clarke ofThe Irish Timeswrote, "To compare it to aghost trainwould be to understate the narrative cohesion that habitually governs those seaside entertainments. "[38]Matthew Rozsa forSalonsaid, "By overly relying on jump scares,The Nunuses a mechanical approach toward instilling fear rather than a more profound understanding of terror. "[39]Writing forThe A.V. Club,Katie Rife compared it toGothic horrorbyMario BavaandHammer Films,praising the "giddiness" but criticizing the "heavy-handed" exposition and lack of suspense.[40]

ThePlugged In (publication)review for the film summarized the spirituality evident in the film: "Evil is real, the movie tells us, but so is God. Spiritual trappings are everywhere. And when in doubt or danger, you can't go wrong with a little prayer."[41]In her review of the film published in theNational Catholic Reporter,Sr.Rose Pacatte,anunbelonging to theDaughters of St. Paul,stated "that there are twoCatholic theologicalaspects of this film that are accurate: one is thatthe devilexists, and the other is thatMary, the Mother of Jesus,will show us the way. "[14]Another religious sister, Nicole Reich, stated in her review of the film published onSyfy Wirethat if Valak was a real demon, he would never be able to reveal himself while the "sisters were in perpetual adoration... because theLordwas present ".[42]

Sequel

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Main article:The Nun II

In August 2017, Wan discussed the possibility of aNunsequel and what its storyline might entail: "I do know where potentially, ifThe Nunworks out, whereThe Nun 2could lead to and how that ties back to Lorraine's story that we've set up with the first twoConjurings and make it all come full circle. "[43]

In April 2019, it was announced byPeter Safranthat a sequel was in development. He stated there was a "really fun" storyline planned for the film,[44]and commented that there was an "inevitability to anotherThe Nunmovie ".[45]Later that month,Akela Coopersigned onto the project as screenwriter, while Safran andJames Wanwill serve as producers.[46]

On April 26, 2022,Warner Bros. Picturesofficially announced the movie as a part of its upcoming slate at the 2022CinemaCon.[47][48]The following day, it was announced thatMichael Chaveswill direct the film.[49]Principal photography began on April 29, 2022.[50]Bonnie Aaronswas confirmed to be reprising her role asValak.[51]

On September 8, 2023, the film was released.[52][53]

References

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  2. ^abc"The Nun (2018)".Box Office Mojo.IMDb.Archivedfrom the original on March 23, 2017.RetrievedNovember 30,2018.
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