The Warrens return one last time in The Conjuring: Last Rites, a chilling installment rooted in faith, family, and one of the demonologists’ most terrifying cases.
Plot
Opening in 1961, the film sets the tone with Lorraine Warren’s (Madison Lawlor) terrifying vision of a malignant entity inside a mirror — a moment that coincides with the near-death birth of her daughter, Judy. Born with her mother’s clairvoyant gift, Judy grows up under Lorraine’s tutelage, while Ed (Orion Smith/Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) balance their faith with their paranormal calling.
By 1986, the couple has retired due to Ed’s health, but their daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) — now a young woman engaged to ex-cop Tony (Ben Hardy) — finds herself drawn back into the supernatural when the Smurl family of Pennsylvania encounters a malevolent presence linked to a cursed mirror.
When daughters Heather (Kíla Lord Cassidy) and Dawn (Beau Gadsdon) attempt to destroy the object, the evil escalates, culminating in one of the film’s most grotesque moments: Dawn vomiting shards of glass in a torrent of blood. The Smurls’ plea for help is ignored by both media and church, until Father Gordon (Steve Coulter) summons the retired Warrens — whose family connection compels them to face the diabolic force.
Performances & Craft
- Farmiga and Wilson anchor the story with the same tender chemistry that has defined the franchise, lending heart to the horror.
- Mia Tomlinson shines as Judy, bridging innocence with inherited psychic weight, while the Smurl family ensemble delivers earnest performances.
- Cinematographer Eli Born crafts eerie visual textures, particularly in a standout wedding dress sequence, where infinite mirrored reflections deliver a perfectly timed jolt.
Tone & Style
Unlike modern splatter-horror, Last Rites leans into its old-world charm — vintage costumes, VHS tapes, oversized spectacles, and even a subplot where Heather deciphers evil through grainy video footage. The film blends gentle transgression and grotesque imagery, offering enough gore without losing its gothic restraint.
Verdict
The Conjuring: Last Rites doesn’t reinvent the haunted mirror trope, but it delivers what fans expect: faith battling the forces of hell, grounded by family bonds and classic scares. While not the scariest entry in the franchise, it feels like a fitting, if formulaic, swan song for the Warrens’ saga — a comforting ghost story wrapped in vintage dread.
⭐ Rating: 3.5/5
