The Nun II

The 2023 sequel: Sister Irene faces Valak again in 1956 France.

The Nun II is a 2023 American gothic supernatural horror movie directed by Michael Chaves. The screenplay was written by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and Akela Cooper, based on a story by Cooper. It is a sequel to the 2018 film The Nun and the eighth movie in The Conjuring Universe franchise. The cast includes Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, and Bonnie Aarons, all returning from the first film, with new cast members Storm Reid and Anna Popplewell. Peter Safran and James Wan returned as producers. Warner Bros. Pictures released the film in the United States on September 8, 2023.

The story takes place in 1956 in Tarascon, France, where a priest named Father Noiret is killed by a demonic force. Four years later, Sister Irene, now in an Italian convent, has a vision of Maurice, a man from the first film, asking for help. She is sent by the Cardinal to investigate deaths across Europe linked to the demon Valak. She travels to Tarascon with a novice named Sister Debra.

There, they discover that Valak is targeting descendants of Saint Lucy, a martyr whose eyes were removed but later recovered. The demon seeks this relic. The relic is buried at a boarding school that was once a monastery. Irene and Debra find the relic, and after a confrontation with a possessed Maurice, they use the relic and prayers to banish Valak.

Irene, revealed to be a descendant of Saint Lucy, survives being set on fire. The film ends with Maurice freed from possession, walking with Sophie and her mother Kate.

The cast features Taissa Farmiga as Sister Irene and Saint Lucy, Jonas Bloquet as Maurice, Storm Reid as Sister Debra, Anna Popplewell as Kate, Bonnie Aarons as the Demon Nun, and Katelyn Rose Downey as Sophie. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga appear as Ed and Lorraine Warren in a mid-credits scene, using archived footage from The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.

Development of the sequel was first discussed by James Wan in 2017. In 2019, Peter Safran confirmed the film was in early development. Akela Cooper was initially hired as the sole screenwriter, with Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing later contributing to the final script. Michael Chaves, who directed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and The Curse of La Llorona, was announced as director in April 2022. Principal photography began in October 2022 in France. The film was a commercial success, earning $269 million worldwide, and received mixed reviews, with many critics considering it an improvement over the first film.

Quick Facts

Director

Michael Chaves

Screenplay

Ian Goldberg
Richard Naing
Akela Cooper

Story

Akela Cooper

Producer

James Wan; Peter Safran

Based on

Characters, James Wan; Gary Dauberman

Starring

Taissa Farmiga
Jonas Bloquet
Storm Reid
Anna Popplewell

Cinematography

Tristan Nyby

Editing

Gregory Plotkin

Facts from the source article.

Background

In 1956 a priest in Tarascon, France, is lifted into the air and burned to death before his altar boy. Four years after Saint Cartha's, Sister Irene is sent by the Cardinal to investigate deaths across Europe attributed to the demon Valak, travelling with the novice Sister Debra. Maurice now works at a boarding school in Tarascon, where he has befriended the student Sophie and her mother Kate.

A librarian at the Palais des Papes explains that Valak is hunting the descendants of St. Lucy for a relic, her eyes, hidden in the former monastery that became the school. Irene finds the relic, survives Valak's fire because she is herself a descendant of St. Lucy, and with Debra turns the old wine into the blood of Christ to banish the demon and free Maurice.

Wan discussed a sequel in 2017 and Safran confirmed early development by 2019; Cooper was hired first, with Goldberg and Naing finishing the script. Shooting began in France in October 2022. The film grossed $269 million and reviewers, though mixed, widely called it an improvement on the first.