Film Review: The Conjuring: Last Rites

Welcome back to the blog readers. As you know, two things are true for me when it comes to horror. The first thing is that I believe they are hit and miss in terms of quality. The second thing is that 2025 has by far been the year of horror. With that being said, I have not seen a single film in this Conjuring (2013-) universe until the final installment. Would it go the way of Halloween Ends (2022), or would it go the way of Final Destination Bloodlines (2025) Stick around to find out.

The Conjuring: Last Rites was directed by Michael Chaves from a screenplay by Ian Goldberg, Richard Niang, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and a story by Johnson-McGoldrick and James Wan, based on characters by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes. The film stars Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mia Tomlinson, and Ben Hardy. In the film, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to Philadelphia to vanquish a demon in a case that will end their careers.

I have not seen a single film in this universe so I have no idea what the other films in this franchise are like. Because of that fact, I was honestly nervous I would get the Halloween Ends treatment, a film that was the worst film of 2022. I got more nervous seeing that runtime of 135 minutes, and thankfully this film is not bad. There are elements of this film that are bad, like the pacing and the story, but some strong performances and a brilliant final sequence honestly save the film.

I want to start by talking about what I do not like about this film, and the first thing is absolutely 100% the pacing. If I ranked films solely based on their pacing, this would be the worst film of the year by a long measure. The pacing of the film is absolutely terrible: explain to me how in a 135-minute film about this being the final case of the Warrens they don't even appear at the house until 80 minutes in. That is a whole 1 hour and 20 minutes of exposition dumping, and it is a problem that a lot of films have nowadays. They feel like they have to explain everything and this lead to the final act being completely rushed and unearned. Cut 30-40 minutes off this film and I am not as harsh on the pacing side.

The next thing I have a real problem with has to do with the story of the film. And yes, this does tie hand-in-hand with the pacing. Because what happens in that hour and 20 minutes? Warren family drama involving the daughter and her getting married and seeing demons and shit like that, intercut with snippets of the main family that we do not spend enough time with at all. Someone who I know that also saw the film mentioned that the grandmother was pushed down the stairs, but we only see the aftermath of it. The priorities of this film were completely misplaced, and it really shows in the directing and editing rooms.

Now I mentioned in a previous paragraph that there were things about this film that I liked. And I want to start by talking about the performance of Vera Farmiga. Farmiga has been in the industry since before I was born, but it was roles like The Departed (2006), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Nothing But the Truth (both 2008), Up in the Air (2009), and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) that really put her on the map. Since 2013, she has played the role of paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren, and since I have no background to go off of, I will only be using the performance in this film. And I thought she did a pretty good job in this film as the conflicted mother that is trying to retire yet knows something is off with her family. Maybe it warrants going back and watching the other films to get a full perspective on her character and the things she has gone through.

And to end this review, I do want to give the final sequence in the house its flowers because I genuinely believe that it is one of the best sequences I have seen all year. And no, I am not kidding. Despite the third act being totally rushed and it left me feeling as if it was unearned, I actually found myself really engaged in this climax, almost as if I was getting invested in what was going on. It was thrilling, it was shot beautifully by cinematographer Eli Born, and the music by Benjamin Wallfisch (who usually kills it in his scores as of late) really picks up. I loved what I saw in all honesty.

The Conjuring: Last Rites is overall a mixed bag, but it still manages to tug at the heartstrings and give us some real goodness. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.