THE CONJURING: LAST RITES is a Victory Lap

THE CONJURING: LAST RITES (Blu-ray)

2025 / 135 min

Warner Bros

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

I never believed for a second that Ed and Lorraine Warren would know a real demon if it walked up, introduced itself and showed them some I.D. Even if their hearts were in the right place - but most likely their wallets - this couple put the ‘con’ in conjuring. 

Still, it’s fun to believe, which the Conjuring franchise has always exploited very effectively, especially with the first two films. Whether or not we buy into the Warrens’ paranormal exploits, what separates these movies from others of their ilk is the great care taken in portraying the couple as likable, sympathetic, sincere and dedicated, to each other and their job. Even as the series began to suffer from the inevitable Law of Diminishing Returns, one thing that remained constant was our affection for the Warrens. 

That affection is more important than ever regarding The Conjuring: Last Rites, which is supposedly the final film in the franchise. It certainly plays like one, assembling a massive collection of tropes, jump-scares, visual effects and ominous signs we’ve long since grown familiar with. These elements may have lost their ability to be truly scary a couple of movies ago, but wouldn’t we miss them if they were absent? Instead of Last Rites, the film could’ve been subtitled Greatest Hits, especially with all the fan service alluding to previous films.

"I dunno, Ed...I can't shake the feeling we're being followed."

But it’s the Warrens (earnestly played once again by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) who keep Last Rites afloat. Director Michael Chaves and his team of screenwriters must have realized that as well, adding now-adult daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) as a primary character (and a pretty good one). Not only is her engagement to boyfriend Tony (Ben Hardy) a charming subplot, both of them end up being part of Mom & Dad’s efforts to save the Smurl family from demons unleashed from an old mirror. The movie needs them, too, since there’s almost no effort to make the Smurls much more than a plot device. You could say the same thing about the demons themselves, whose history and intentions are pretty murky.

As a capper to the phenomenally successful Conjuring franchise (yeah, we’ll see), Last Rites is sort of a victory lap. Save for a chilling sequence involving the fate of a kindly priest, the film doesn’t really serve-up anything new and the ultimate outcome is a given. But as a fond cinematic farewell to the beloved Warrens, it works quite nicely. Who cares if their actual legacy is dubious at best?

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Last Rites: An Era Ends looks back at the whole franchise; The Conjuring: Crafting Scenes focuses on the film’s visuals; Michael Chaves: Believer features the film’s director.

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