It feels fitting that The Conjuring became the biggest horror franchise of the superhero era. While these films offer their fair share of scares, their main appeal involves watching the good guys save the day, fictionalizing the real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren as selfless warriors in an eternal battle against evil.
Masterminded by James Wan, the Conjuring formula borrows the general gist of The Exorcist, reducing the psychological tension and leaning into a kind of procedural format. Ed and Lorraine’s loving, lovable marriage provides the emotional hook, and with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga expected to leave the franchise after this movie, The Conjuring: Last Rites doubles down on the sentimentality of its predecessors.
