The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025) Warner Bros./Horror RT: 135 minutes Rated R (bloody/violent content and terror) Director: Michael Chaves Screenplay: Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick Music: Benjamin Wallfisch Cinematography: Eli Born Release date: September 5, 2025 (US) Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan, Kila Lord Cassidy, Beau Gadsdon, Molly Cartwright, Peter Wright, Kate Fahy, Steve Coulter, John Brotherton, Shannon Kook.
Rating: ***
All good things must come to an end and while not every entry in the Conjuring Universe is stellar, you have to admire how they stay firmly rooted in horror cinema of the 70s and 80s. So it is that The Conjuring: Last Rites is the final chapter of the series centering on married paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. One of the best things about the Conjuring films is that they treat the Warrens as real people rather than one-dimensional characters whose sole purpose in life is fighting demons and other malevolent entities. We know and care about these people so when one or both of them face certain death, it matters.
Director Michael Chaves (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) brings the Warrens’ story full circle by having them confront once again the demon they encountered in their first case back in 1964. The cursed object in question is an antique mirror. When pregnant Lorraine makes the mistake of touching it, she goes into labor. At the hospital, she gives birth to daughter Judy. Initially stillborn, she comes back to life while her grieving mother cradles her. Because of this near-tragedy, the couple never finishes what they started with the mirror.
The story cuts to 1986 where we find the Warrens living a life free of supernatural chaos. They had to retire after Ed’s (Wilson, Watchmen) heart attack. Now they’re on the lecture circuit speaking about their experiences to rooms full of young people only interested in making Ghostbusters jokes. Judy (Tomlinson, The Beast Must Die) is a young woman now. Her parents are still protective of her. They don’t exactly jump for joy when her boyfriend Tony (Hardy, Bohemian Rhapsody) asks for their blessing to propose to her. Judy’s a fragile sort. She has psychic abilities. She experiences frightening visions. As a child, Lorraine (Farmiga, Orphan) always encouraged her to push them out of her mind. Her gift (or curse) is growing stronger now.
The mirror finds its way into the home of the Smurl family, a middle-class Catholic family in a Pennsylvania coal-mining town. It was given to daughter Heather (Cassidy, The Wonder) for her confirmation. That’s when the weird supernatural stuff starts happening. She and big sister Dawn (Gadsdon, The Girl in the Spider’s Web), both understandably freaked out by the mirror, try to get rid of it. They only make things worse. It goes without saying that Ed and Lorraine come out of retirement to help the family deal with the situation.
We’re all familiar with the hollow nature of modern major studio horror movies (e.g. the recent reboot/sequel I Know What You Did Last Summer). They offer up little more than vapid characters, stale plots and CGI. They operate under the assumption that louder somehow makes the scares scarier. The Conjuring films don’t do any of that. They have a distinctive old school flavor. The Conjuring: Last Rites recalls horrors like The Exorcist (1973) and Amityville II: The Possession (1982) by adding Catholicism to the mix. When the Warrens decline to take the Smurl case, their friend Father Gordon (Coulter, Insidious: The Red Door) takes matters into his own hands with tragic results. When he first arrives at the house, one can’t help but be reminded of Father Merrin’s arrival at the MacNeils in The Exorcist. Chaves makes it part of the story without delving too deeply into religious themes. He’s just out to tell a scary story and he largely succeeds.
The biggest problem with The Conjuring: Last Rites is one of pacing. It spends more time on the Warren family drama than the situation at the Smurls. I realize that the former is important as it adds an element of gravitas to the latter. The stories intersect in an interesting way, one that involves more than the Warrens finally giving in and helping them. I’ll only say it brings Judy into the action. Unfortunately, it takes too long to get to this point. When the movie focuses on the scary stuff, it’s solid. There are some genuine chills and a few decent “BOO!” scenes. Visually, it’s pretty good. A mix of practical effects and CGI, it creeps up on the viewer before it pounces.
The acting is better than one would expect from a horror sequel. Farmiga and Wilson are great as the real-life paranormal pair. Wilson is especially good as a guy beginning to accept his mortality. He can’t do the things he used to lest he risk a second, more potentially fatal heart attack. Farmiga strikes a strong emotional cord as a wife and mother looking out for her loved ones while never showing fear to the evils forces she’s fighting. She’s the heart of the series. Tomlinson is quite good as the daughter trying to deal with powers that frighten her. Hardy does good work as the outsider looking for acceptance by a tight family.
What’s interesting about The Conjuring: Last Rites is that it’s a passing of the torch of sorts. No spoilers here, but the series could potentially continue with Judy and Tony. The final scenes are touching as Ed and Lorraine reflect on what the future holds for them. I know this isn’t exactly what horror fans want from a movie. The Conjuring: Last Rites isn’t perfect. It’s overlong and drags a little in parts, but the finale makes up for it. It rocks. In the end, it’s a final trip worth taking.
