The Nun

Ah, Romania. It’s such a beautiful, quiet mountainous region of the world. Within a small part of Romania, lies an abbey in which several nuns quietly go about their business in service to God, praying on a daily basis to keep the evil spirits away from the abbey for reasons that, well, are unknown. For 300 years, it seems, the nuns’ continual prayers have kept at bay any evil circumstances or happenings, until one night when one of the sisters mysteriously hangs herself by walking off the ledge of the abbey.

Shortly thereafter, two officials of the Vatican, Father Burke (Demián Bichir) and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), are called upon to investigate the suicide and determine whether or not the abbey is deemed a holy site anymore. As Father Burke and Sister Irene’s investigation goes deeper and deeper, they begin to discover the abbey’s dark and malevolent past that has unleashed a demonic presence upon the abbey (the same demonic presence we meet in “Conjuring 2”). Father Burke and Sister Irene must ask the question, “Will faith alone be enough to combat the demonic presence?

I remember when the first Conjuring movie came out. I remember how hesitant I was to actually go to the theaters to see it. …As time as progressed, each film in “The Conjuring” series has gotten progressively darker, as one reviewer from Plugged In stated, to the point where if once Christ’s presence MAY have existed at the beginning of the series (I say MAY because this argument is still in debate as to whether “The Conjuring” and “The Conjuring 2” have Christian elements in them) His presence has, no doubt, ceased to exist in the Annabelle films (both “Annabelle” and “Annabelle: Creation”) and now “The Nun.”

To put it plainly, “The Nun” is void of hope, joy and Christ, even amongst its main characters. Evil is allowed to reign on screen and we bear witness to all the damage that it does to what is presented as holy (the abbey, the Church and its servants [nuns, priests]). There is absolutely no need for a “demonic entity origin story” of this aptitude, and, to be frank—since this isn’t really much of a spoiler, it doesn’t really give us the demon’s origin. It was like the writers got together with Warner Bros. and said, “Hey, how dark can we go with the series? Who can we offend next?” Sure, the filmmaking quality is good, and the performances are good, but, honestly, who cares when you make a film this sacreligious and, frankly, ungodly?

Content of Concern

Violence: Extreme. In a flashback we witness a character being impaled by a plank. We witness a nun being dragged and when she crawls out she is covered in blood before being dragged again. A nun commits suicide by hanging herself off the ledge of the abbey (we later witness her corpse hanging and being eaten by crows, as well as see her rotting corpse and missing flesh as a result). In another scene a boy is shown being tied up and possessed. A character is seen being buried alive. A character’s face is attacked by a creature. Various characters are seen being tossed, attacked and killed throughout the film.

One of the characters, Frankie, decapitates a demon by hitting it with a shovel. A demon come backs to life and stabs Father Burker. Another demon is set on fire. We see a snake come out of one demon and attack someone. Characters are choked and knocked unconscious. One character is shown being drowned. A character is seen dissolving and dying in a graphic manner.

There are multiple instances of extreme terror caused by the demon Valek throughout the film. The movie is very dark in nature.

Profanity: Profanity includes the following: “Oh my G*d” (1), “Oh G*d” (2), “My God,” “holy mother of God,” “h*ll” (1), and “holy sh*t” (1)—to which Father Burke replies, “It’s the holiest.” A door in the catacombs says, in Latin, “God ends here.” Frenchie says it’s a shame that Sister Irene is going to take her vows to serve God. Frenchie flirts with a nun.

Sex or nudity: A flirting man apologizes for his impure thoughts toward a woman, after discovering she’s a nun in training. A man apologizes to a nun, when giving her CPR, for giving her the “kiss of life.” Sister Irene’s bare back is shown as the demon, Valek, carves a satanic symbol on her.

Spiritual Issues

Faith is one of the main themes in this film. It is one of the main tools which Sister Irene uses to fight Valek. It is her belief in the Lord that He can bring the abbey out of the darkness that gives her the strength and courage to confront Valek.

Faith in the Lord and prayer, in times of darkness, are powerful tools in our fight against the enemy. Only through fully trusting in the Lord can we ever hope to overcome our adversary in our darkest time. Scripture tells us…

“The righteous cry and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.” —Psalm 34: 17

Scripture also tells us to…

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” —Ephesians 6:11

“Be ready! Let the truth be like a belt around your waist, and let God’s justice protect you like armor. Your desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on your feet. Let your faith be like a shield, and you will be able to stop all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Let God’s saving power be like a helmet, and for a sword use God’s message that comes from the Spirit. Never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert and keep praying for God’s people…” —Ephesians 6:14-18

For more information on how we, as Christians, can combat our enemy, I highly recommend consulting Christian Answers’ resources regarding this particular topic.

I chose to do this review so that you, my brothers and sisters, will hopefully be spared from the COMPLETELY unnecessary desire to see “The Nun.” To be perfectly clear, I do NOT recommend this film to any audience, Christian or otherwise. It is not for children, teens, or adults. Do not subject the Holy Spirit to such unholy, ungodly filth.

• Violence: Extreme
• Profane language: Moderate
• Vulgar/Crude language: None
• Nudity: Minor
• Sex: Mild
• Occult: Heavy

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

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