After over a decade of serving as a horror classic, the Conjuring series (2013-2025) comes to a close with The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025). The fourth and final film in the series was released earlier this month, and as a long-time fan of the franchise, I gave this movie a firm 3.5/5 stars on Letterboxd; enjoyable but not quite satisfying.
Based on a true story from 1986, renowned demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren — played by iconic duo Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga — are settling into a comfortable life of retirement from fighting the supernatural. Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, the Smurls family is experiencing a series of terrifying events mimicking an unresolved case from the Warrens’ past. With the help of their daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson), and her boyfriend Tony (Ben Hardy), Ed and Lorraine must come out of retirement to confront the evil that nearly tore their family apart many years ago.
After directing The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) Michael Chaves returns to work on the newest addition to the franchise — however, he isn’t the quadrology’s original director. While there is no such thing as a bad Conjuring movie, Chaves’ films are no match for the first two in the series, both directed by James Wan — especially The Conjuring 2 (2016), which is still one of my top comfort movies.
To the surprise of no one, Wilson and Farmiga’s on-screen chemistry remains as strong as ever. A staple of the franchise, the adoration that they exude both on and off-screen is highlighted by the costume department every time they match Ed’s tie with Lorraine’s skirt. My heart physically ached whenever Ed or Lorraine were in peril in this movie because of the unbreakable bond between these two characters. Honestly, if you and your partner aren’t looking at each other like Ed and Lorraine do, is it really love?
If you ask me, the success of the Conjuring series relies on a combination of two crucial elements: Ed and Lorraine’s heartwarming relationship, and the bond they form with the family being haunted. Unfortunately, The Conjuring: Last Rites neglects the latter and instead heavily centres around Judy, which left me feeling dissatisfied. What happened to Ed’s Elvis renditions to help the struggling family through their fear, or Lorraine sitting on a swingset listening to an exhausted child? Rather than being fleshed out as actual characters, it felt like the Smurls’ only purpose was to serve as victims of the movie’s supernatural villains. While Judy was a fine character, and Tomlinson delivered a superb performance, I would have preferred to see less of Judy, and more of the Smurls.
The Conjuring: Last Rites has its fair share of jumpscares and tense moments that sent my friend (who had never seen a Conjuring movie before) retreating deeper and deeper into the comfort of her hoodie. While there were a few scenes that definitely had me unnerved and anxious for what was hiding in the dark, I ultimately found this movie to be less scary than its predecessors — or maybe I was just too attracted to one of the film’s ghosts.
Could The Conjuring: Last Rites have been better? Absolutely. Is it still worth watching? One hundred per cent. But now that the series has come to a close, what’s next? The idea of passing on the torch to the next generation was a large element of The Conjuring: Last Rites, and if rumours are to be believed, a Conjuring TV show is in the works at HBO Max. All of this begs the question: when is enough enough? Are prequels, sequels, remakes, and spin-offs the new normal? Does anything ever truly end?
