Internet Janitor
When the film was announced, I read that the Warrens would be going up against a demon attacking the Smurfs. Given that the Warrens were scam artists, profiteering with their stories of the paranormal, it just as much sense as anything else. And then I realized I had misread it, and it was the Smurl family. I was very disappointed. Regardless, however, that the Warrans were complete frauds, the Conjuring movies, based on their stories, have always been entertaining.
In this tale from the Warrens, we see their beginning with the birth of their daughter Judy (played by TEMU Zooey Deschanel), whom they believed to be a miracle. They encounter a spooky mirror and run from it. Many years later, the Smurl family begins to be tormented after coming into possession of the same mirror. Through many twists and turns, the mirror draws the Warrens back one last time.
There was a lot of care put into the look of this “final” Conjuring movie. Aside from some really bad CGI (as is the case with most movies these days), it looks fantastic. It builds and layers the drama, and unlike previous entries, it takes a lot longer for things to come together. The final battle is a little anticlimactic, but it works because we like being with these characters. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are fantastic as always here, playing the Warrens ‘ battle-hardened warriors from a thousand cases of horror.
On the flip side, there’s not much care put into the story. Why does this demon want Lorraine so much? What’s the origin of the mirror? All we get are a couple of throwaway lines when the movie’s almost done. It really drags in the three-quarter mark and never really picks up, even in the end.
One thing that always gets me in movies like this is the depth of petty bullshit these demons and ghosts undertake. I mean, most of this is grade school level shenanigans. If such things were real, why would they be so tightly contained in irrelevant nonsense? Just a thought.
I do recommend looking up the stories behind all of this, and while there is no evidence whatsoever that anything supernatural happened at the real Smurl household, the Warrens never wavered in their delusions. The film ends by treating their lives as seriously as one would expect, but it’s all just a show. Like they would have wanted, I guess.