Year of Release: 2021
Director: Michael Chaves
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ruairi O'Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard, John Noble, Eugenie Bondurant, Shannon Kook, Ronnie Gene Blevins
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis and Review:
"The Conjuring" series, which director James Wan and writers Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes started in 2013, with a modest budget, to much commercial success and fairly solid reviews, continues its path, this time around with Wan in the capacity of writer/producer, and the Hayes siblings no longer involved. The direction of the film fell to Michael Chaves, who has worked with James Wan's production company Atomic Monster Productions, in the 2019 released feature "The Curse of La Llorona". This time around the film follows another case being tackled by Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are called in to help with an exorcism. As the case isn't going very well, Ed actually has a heart attack during the intervention, and though the original victim of the case is seemingly saved, Ed witnesses the entity taking ownership of someone else. As days go by, the young man who is possessed ends up killing someone, upon which he's imprisoned, potentially facing the death sentence. The Warrens discuss with the defense attorney that they believe Arne, the young man who is at the center of the whole ordeal, is indeed possessed. As they set out to prove their case, and try to save Arne, they realize that the house, and those individuals in particular are part of a very sinister plan.
What has always been so interesting about "The Conjuring" films, in particular the first one, has always been the fact that James Wan manages to not only create credible scenarios and situations, but just as importantly, he allows for the characters in these stories to be developed, even if ever so briefly. Ed and Lorraine, though based in life persons, and of course fictionalized by the writers and the actors, have become this realized interpretation of a supportive couple, who share a joint history, which gives them strength, particularly as they go through challenging cases and situations. In the first film in particular, James Wan managed to also develop just enough of the victim's backstory, to create a true sense of agony and despair as events spiraled out of control. In this third film, the nuance that was showcased in the first films, starts to dissipate, as the story focuses more on the discovery of what lies beneath the grotesque crime which took place, and not much emphasis is placed on the characters themselves. The film ends up revolving more around the setting up of the dreaded environment of terror and menace, and less on actual characters to populate it, and actually emote something besides disbelief or fear. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are terrific as usual, but the supporting cast has nothing much to do, including the always commanding John Noble, who is sadly wasted in a minor role. The cinematography from Michael Burgess is at times almost too dark, but still effective, while the score of Joseph Bishara is perfectly on point, as is the production design from Jennifer Spence. While not as memorable or entertaining as the previous entries in the series, it's still worth watching, if anything for the central duo of performances.
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