- Directed by Corin Hardy
- September 4, 2018 (TCL Chinese Theatre) / September 7, 2018 (US)
A Catholic priest and a nun in her novitiate uncover a secret at the Saint Cartha’s monastery in 1952 Romania.
The Nun is among my favorite horror movies of recent years. Not because it’s especially scary or filled with fantastic special effects but rather it feels like a bit of a throwback to older horror movies. Specifically those produced by Full Moon Productions and its successors.
When Full Moon Productions first came on the scene, it produced some fantastic low budget and very atmospheric horror movies. They may not have had many scares, but there was a creep and weirdness factor that permeated just about every scene of those films. And they quickly hooked you with intriguing stories well executed. This does that successfully.
From the opening moments all the way to the climactic scene there’s a feeling that something isn’t quite right. There’s an unnerving vibe from start to finish in this film. Corin Hardy and friends used atmosphere to great effect here. The created a film where the mind of the viewer did as much work if not more than they did.
The Nun all takes place in a nunnery with an unfolding mystery. By the end the viewer gets some answers but there are a few questions I have such as were the nuns our leads encountered part of some kind of trap or were they spirits trying to stop the evil through Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) and Father Burke (Demián Bichir)? All questions may not get answered but I feel there is enough given that the presented story works with anything the audience would like to know filled in by head canon.
Irene and Burke are troubled characters, but not so damaged you feel they need therapy. You may ask yourself why they were picked for this mission but when you look at it given their experiences and general history they were perfect for it. Which also begs the question: why did the church not give them a complete set of information? At least on the abbey’s history rather than let them go into thinking it was relatively normal.
It also does something a bit unusual for horror movies these days. Not only is the movie’s basic mythology steeped in western religion but also is the ultimate solution. It’s a lot less vague on the former and latter than many newer horror films. I dare say even Catholic ritual is ultimately important to the resolution of the problem.
Films that are a prequel on any level can sometimes be hurt by being just that. But this is not as the focus of the story is not Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) but rather the evil of Valak/the Nun (Bonnie Aarons). Valak is probably one of the best horror movie villains to come along in quite some time. Between the atmosphere and the look, which is ultimately not that hard to achieve, the demon comes off as pure unadulterated evil. Just looking at it is frightening.
Since Stephen King came along the trend in horror-not only in the feature film area but also in the literary area-is to set the story in the modern era as well as someplace that the reader or viewer is likely to encounter. This neglects that there are things that you can only do and feelings that you can only get by setting a creepy story in some area the experiencer may not have ever been. The real yet unfamiliar helps to set the stage.
Some have criticized the logic of the film as well as jump scares. The logic used is based largely in religion and that is a different way of thinking. It is a hard thing to explain to the uninitiated. As for the jump scares, isn’t a scare scare? I didn’t know it mattered exactly how you got scared when watching a horror film. I think some of those people are just upset that they got scared in a relatively cheap way. Do not be upset at the film. Be upset at you.
Having said all that The Nun is a fantastic entry in the horror films that relies more on atmosphere than anything else. It tells a significantly supernatural mystery and answers just enough without answering everything. I highly recommend this entry!
Warren Watched A Movie 