Using CGI to make an actor appear younger than they are has become a not uncommon practice in modern cinema. It’s certainly come a long way in the decades that it’s been in use, and while it’s difficult to argue that it doesn’t still have some problems, it does the job remarkably well. This is likely why Michael Chaves, director of The Conjuring: Last Rites, fully assumed he would be using the technology in the new film.
The opening of the newest and final, Conjuring film includes a flashback sequence that sees protagonists Ed and Lorainne Warren, played in the rest of the franchise by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, as much younger people than we’ve ever seen them. Chaves tells EW that when he originally conceived of the sequence, he knew exactly how he wanted to portray the younger characters, saying:
