The Nun is an American Gothic horror film directed by Corin Hardy, released in 2018. This is the 5th film of the Conjuring centered on the character of Valak a demon entered Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case, who takes possession of a nun. The film takes place in 1952 in a convent in Romania, so it is chronologically the first film of the franchise.

At the time of its release in the United States, the film received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it gets a low score of 27% and on Metacritic, it gets only 46/100. The film is praised for the actors' performance and atmosphere, but is criticized for its script and jump scares. However, with a total of $53 million raised during its first weekend in the United States, the film achieves the best start of franchise.

In France, the film also received a very mixed reaction, with a score of 1.8/5 on Allociné, it holds the worst score of the franchise. However, the film is also a French box office success, with a total of 633,713 entries, the film achieves the second best start of the franchise. At the end of its theatrical release, the film records the best result of the franchise box office with a total of 365 million dollars in worldwide revenue.

Story:

On a dark night in 1952, two terrified nuns visit the catacombs of their abbey in Saint-Carta, Romania. After opening a sinister door on which are engraved the words "Finit hic deo" (God stops here), one of the nuns disappears in the darkness, while the other, after having run away, ends up to hang himself by throwing himself by a window of the abbey.

The news of his death spreads rapidly after a young farmer from the area discovered her body. Since suicide is considered by the Church as a sin against God, a priest with a troubled past and a novice sister are commissioned by the Vatican to conduct the investigation.

Once on the spot, the two ecclesiastics note that despite its glorious past, the abbey has become a sinister and dilapidated place, feared by the inhabitants of the region. Only the peasant who has discovered the body of the nun, a Quebecker who has been living there for several years, agrees to accompany them.

Their first impression is quickly accurate because just arrived on the spot, having been "welcomed" by the superior mother of the convent concealed under a black veil, the peasant is attacked on the way back by the suicidal nun returned from between the dead. The priest and the novice are not spared either, since the first, awakened by the appearance of a young boy whom he could not save a few years before, is buried alive, then saved by the novice, herself even attacked in turn by a malevolent nun.

It therefore seems clear that dark forces are at work and the two ecclesiastics decide to conduct the investigation separately. The priest takes care of gathering information about the evil presence, while the novice goes in search of the Sisters.

After finding two in full prayer, the novice learns that the abbey was a very sacred place before its founder, obsessed with occultism, finally tries to invoke a powerful demon. Arrested by Vatican knights before the demon was fully invoked, the breach to the underworld was closed by a powerful relic, the blood of Christ. Unfortunately, the abbey was hit by bombing raids during the Second World War, which weakened the breach to the underworld. Since then, the Sisters of the abbey pray continuously so that no evil presence can escape.

For his part, the priest quickly identifies the demon Valak as the source of the evils that hit the abbey, but they do not have time to share their discoveries that new appearances fail to kill them. Saved by the returned peasant to help them, the three companions search for the sacred relic to close the breach of the Underworld. After many adventures in the catacombs during which their courage and their faith will be put to the test, the three companions finally put their hand on the relic and manage to triumph over the demon Valak.

Once the breach of the Hells closed and the sisters worthily buried, the three companions commit on the way back, but while they evoke their plans for the future, an inverted cross appears discreetly in the neck of the farmer. A certain Maurice.

Genesis and development:

June 16, 2016, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema have announced that a spin-off of Conjuring 2: The Enfield Case entitled The Nun is planned. The original script of the film was written by David Leslie Johnson, Peter Safran and James Wan produce the film. February 17, 2017, it is announced that Corin Hardy signed to realize the film, with the new scenario of Dauberman and Wan. During the shooting of Annabelle 2: The Creation of Evil, Safran revealed that The Nun is placed chronologically before all the other films of the cinematic universe Conjuring. At the end of Annabelle 2, we can see the nun in a post-generic scene. The first official poster is released June 12, 2018 and his trailer the next day.