A long dark hallway, ominously dangling crosses for miles, and a locked door with a terrifying message, what could possibly go wrong? The first scene of the movie, The Nun, takes place is a dark dismantled basement lit by one candle. Dark basements alone send off bad vibes, add a couple crying nuns and some blood, and you’ve got yourself a horror movie. Or at least that’s the impression I got from this movie. I originally watched this movie because I thought it was extremely ironic for a demon to disguise itself as a bride of Christ. A nun, by Roman Catholic definition, is a spiritual bride of Christ. These women take their vows dressed in white and given a wedding ring. These women have devoted themselves completely to Christ, so for a demonic lifeforce to appear as a nun seems very cynical and mocking.

I would give this movie 3 stars out of 5 at best, simply because there were cultural and religious aspects that don’t add up. Romanians have very unique traditions; however, those traditions don’t include grave bells. Grave bells are safety mechanisms that were built into coffins in the 18th century and the early 19th century. Many cultures all over the world employed this safety tactic in case of a premature burial. Grave bells is one of the biggest tools for foreshadowing in the film, probably out of convenience, as one of the main protagonists is buried alive. Also, extremely convenient, Father Burke (the said protagonist) is buried on top of the man who started the whole mess. Shortly after this, Valak’s name is mentioned for the first and only time in the entire movie. Considering that Valak is the main antagonist of the movie, the name should have been mentioned more than once. Also since this is the same demon from The Conjuring 2, I’m curious to know why it was so much harder to get rid of Valak in this movie.  Taking into consideration that all Lorraine Warren had to do was banish Valak from the house, why did Sister Irene and Father Burke have to jump through so many hoops to get rid of Valak in this movie?

At the beginning of the movie it tells you that Sister Irene is not actually a nun yet, she has not taken her vows. Closer to the end of the movie, she takes her vows. I understand why she doesn’t have a wedding ring, there wasn’t one available in the disembodied abbey, but the rest of the nuns in this movie should have had a wedding ring. While there weren’t many scenes that showed their hands, there were a few and they were ringless. Picture that, a ringless bride.

The acting in this film was pretty spot on, for the most part, and I have serious respect for Bonnie Aarons, the actress who played Valak. She was terrifyingly good at playing the demonic nun and also looks quite like Valak even out of costume. Also, I love how Corin Hardy, the director of The Nun, incorporated humor into this thriller. I feel like adding that little bit of sarcasm or pure dumbfoundedness to the film really brought the movie to another level. The character Frenchy, a French-Canadian immigrant played by Jonas Bloquet, was the life of this movie even though the film was riddled with death. Frenchy is definitely my favorite character and the main reason I didn’t score this movie lower than 3 stars. Overall, I would say this movie is still worth seeing on a rainy day when you have nothing better to do, but it didn’t take the crown on being the best movie in theaters right now.