Editor’s Be aware: The next accommodates spoilers for The Nun II.
Nicely, it occurred once more. The demon Valak has returned, and with a vengeance as all the time. Whereas The Nun II makes waves internationally, followers of The Conjuring Universe surprise how this newest prequel would possibly connect with the way forward for the franchise. Admittedly, it doesn’t actually should, in spite of everything, the Annabelle films hardly related to the remainder of the horror flicks till the third one, and even then it served extra as a enjoyable (or horrifying) interlude relatively than contributing to the overarching plot. Possibly the demonic Nun’s newest horrors must be taken as the identical. However with the return of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) by way of an open-ended mid-credits scene, one has to surprise simply how interconnected this universe actually is. After all, that’s not the one factor that The Nun II has going for it, there are many different teases all through the movie that trace at what’s coming subsequent, and we’re right here to discover a few of these additional. However, to try this, let’s first replicate on Valak’s most up-to-date haunting, and join the dots from there.
The Nun II picks up solely 4 years after the occasions of the primary movie. Happening largely in 1956 France, the plot follows two diverging narratives. The primary revolves across the return of Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) from the primary movie, who is distributed by the Catholic Church to research a weird string of murders which have occurred since her earlier journey in Romania. Alongside for the journey is Sister Debra (Storm Reid), who struggles to just accept the miracles related to their shared religion. As they journey throughout Europe, they quickly study that Valak (performed as soon as extra by Bonnie Aarons) is after an historical relic referred to as the Eyes of Saint Lucy, a Christian martyr who wouldn’t burn, so her eyes have been eliminated earlier than she was killed.
The secondary plot follows Frenchie aka Maurice (Jonas Bloquet) from the primary movie, who has ever since been possessed by Valak, unbeknownst to him. Valak makes use of him at night time to conjure up her darkish deeds and seek for the relic inside an previous monestary-turned-winery-turned-boarding college for younger ladies. There he has befriended the younger Sophie (Katelyn Rose Downey) and her mom Kate (Anna Popplewell), to whom he’s taken a romantic liking. Sadly, Valak torments lots of the younger ladies, kills a lot of folks, and almost forces Maurice to do the identical to these he’s grown to like.
Within the closing act, Irene arrives to assist her previous buddy and finally confronts the demon with the relic. Sadly, Valak quickly takes possession of the relic for itself, and almost wipes out our heroes within the course of. It’s solely when Irene and Debra pray that the blood of Christ could be current throughout the spilled wine that Valak stands in that the demon is defeated as soon as extra, seemingly despatched again to Hell. This time, nevertheless, Irene doesn’t consider that Maurice is absolutely cured, at the same time as he rejoins his newfound household. And thus, the story of Valak continues…
The best way The Nun II ends leaves the door large open for an additional battle (perhaps the ultimate battle?) between Sister Irene and her demonic adversary. For the reason that demon was defeated final time and survived, she seemingly is aware of that it’ll do the identical once more after this, main one to consider that there’s extra to the story. The subsequent time we all know Valak seems for positive within the Conjuring Universe chronology is in The Conjuring 2, which takes place primarily in 1977, which remains to be 21 years after the occasions of The Nun II.
Given how a lot occurred in Europe between 1952 and 1956, it’s straightforward to surprise what else the demonic Nun was as much as throughout that point. We all know that someday between the late Nineteen Sixties and the early Nineteen Seventies, Ed and Lorraine help in an exorcism that entails Maurice (performed initially by Christof Veillon), although it doesn’t work. Ultimately, he shoots his spouse (who now is perhaps Kate for all we all know) earlier than finally turning the gun again on himself. From there, Valak waits for a lot of years earlier than coming again for the Warrens, however the demon’s tendrils exist on the basis of the primary movie.
“Valak both will get again into him or Valak would possibly nonetheless be in there,” director Michael Chaves teased afterward. “I believe that’s actually open to interpretation.” Chaves, who additionally helmed The Conjuring: The Satan Made Me Do It and the Conjuring-adjacent The Curse of La Llorona, might presumably return for a 3rd installment of The Nun saga, which at this level refers to Sister Irene as a lot because it does Valak. However Maurice’s situation isn’t the one query left unanswered, neither is his eventual-botched exorcism the one occasion that connects again to the bigger Conjuring Universe.
Not solely does Sister Irene uncover that she is a descendant of Saint Lucy, due to this fact retaining her from being burned by the demon, however she additionally has a magical capacity of her personal. Although it’s displayed in 2018’s The Nun as nicely, the sequel higher highlights Irene’s precognitive capacity by way of her goals of Maurice, her immersive visions of Valak, and her eventual revelation on the way to defeat the demonic creature.