The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSAz556s0fM

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Putting the past behind you will always be worthier and a fine example can come from The Conjuring: Last Rites.


PLOT


The 2025 film begins in 1964, revealing Lorraine Warren investigating an antique mirror and quickly having a frightening vision of an entity that has her go into labor early. Her husband Ed takes her to the hospital and their daughter Judy would be stillborn until her prayers brought her back. 22 years later, that same mirror is now in the hands of the Smurl family in Pennsylvania. Apart from the married couple of Jack & Janet (Elliot Cowan & Rebecca Calder), the whole family that lives there includes: his parents Mary & John (Peter Wight & Kate Fahy), eldest daughters Dawn & Heather (Beau Gadsdon & Kila Lord Cassidy), and twins Carin & Shannon (Tilly Walker & Molly Cartwright). Heather is gifted the mirror for her confirmation ceremony but shortly after retrieving it, their haunting begins with the kitchen ceiling light collapsing. With Ed’s heart condition getting worse, he and Lorraine choose to retire from investigating and continue with lectures that are now sparsely attended. Judy had gotten more sensitive with her own psychic visions that her mom teaches her to push them away with a rhyme she’s used since childhood. When Dawn & Heather try getting rid of the mirror, the haunting only gets worse that the entity takes the form of a man murdering his wife and her mother with an axe. Not knowing what else to do, Jack does go public with the press of this problem and it gets the attention of Father Gordon. He does tell the Warrens about it, but they remain retired. He does go to the Diocese of Scranton when seeing how bad it is for the Smurls, only for the demon to induce him to committing suicide. On the day of his funeral, Judy learns why he was in Pennsylvania and chooses to investigate like her parents. Ed & Lorraine only follow suit with her fiancé Tony Spera after her mom has a vision of her in danger. Upon meeting the Smurls do they accept their daughter’s plea to help them. As they do so, Lorraine deduces the dead family haunting them is controlled by a singular demon and when finding the mirror in the attic, she realizes it’s the same demon from the first investigation. Certain it’s after Judy again, the Warrens intend to take the mirror back to their home to contain it. Predictably, it becomes a struggle when Ed has a cardiac episode and Lorraine is simultaneously attacked in the basement. As Tony saves her, Judy gets officially possessed until her mom saves her with the same rhyme. When Ed fails to exercise the mirror, it takes embracing her abilities to destroy the mirror. The remains of the mirror would be taken as planned and after seeing Tony & Judy’s wedding, does the film conclude in an epilogue: The Smurls remained in their Pennsylvania for three more years without being haunted again until moving. Ed would have a stroke and Lorraine would remain his caretaker until passing away at the age of 76 in ‘06; She would pass away in ‘19 at the age of 92.


THOUGHTS


It’s definitely hard for a horror franchise mostly beloved because you want everything to have transpired feel important. Director Michael Chaves had that task and while it doesn’t match the quality of what was done by James Wan (who cameos as a wedding guest with characters of past movies, as well as the Warrens’ former assistant Drew [Shannon Kook]), it’s a step up from The Devil Made Me Do It. The jumpscares are well paced when it came to this unnamed demon because if you weren’t phased with the digital effects on the dead family, you’ll likely be gasping over a giant Annabelle or just want to avoid antique mirrors. As Eli Born’s editing makes those moments effective, Benjamin Wallfisch’s score maintains the suspense while leading to overdue solace. Fans identify this entry to be the end of an era because this would be the end of seeing the Warrens be portrayed by Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga who have carried this franchise with untouchable performances each time. If their chemistry never worked from the start, it would’ve not been so believable here. At the end of the tightrope, seeing him find resilience at a point where they want to be at peace for the remainder of the time they got, it reflects again how much unity is a great strength against evil because it’s never easy to go in alone. Like past families, the Smurls are quite vulnerable since they don’t know what they’re up against and rightfully go to the pros to handle it. It sure sucked though seeing Father Gordon die in the midst because he felt like a red herring each time he was involved, but Steve Coulter made him likable for sharing the dedication the Warrens were all about it. With that being said, it does become a shame that’s what it takes for them to get involved. Moving on, Mia Tomlinson was a great choice to be the adult version of Judy, following the crumbs left by McKenna Grace & Sterling Jerins, because while coming off repressed of her abilities, the selfless nature she learned from her parents is what inspires her to embrace her gift. And I think this is what reflects how things worked out between her and Tony. She is so in love with him because Ben Hardy shows him to be one trying to cherish second chances since he cheated death as a cop, inspiring him to try to live safely, seeing the big heart he’s all about. He feels the same for her in return because she’s his inspiration to be who he wants to be and his actions in the climax sure backed it up at that point. Nobody settled for less in this family and that’s what made Ed & Lorraine content with the future that followed their daughter, proving how much of a blessing she already was. This movie actually does well on its own, but there are still some things that hold it back from being better. For example, there should've some lanterns on standby if there weren't enough flashlights to accommodate for the power outage. That's pretty ideal for the 60s if you ask me. Hell, I'm surprised John didn't fix the glass of the mirror before giving it to Heather. And if he tried, that should've been acknowledged. Also, it's a miracle Heather and Dawn were able to not wake up anybody when getting the mirror outside after taking the stairs. That's more unbelievable than not bringing up going to a hotel sooner. I even refuse to believe Tony heard Judy speak the rhyme to herself whens eh was freaking whispering. Comfort or not, it felt out of line for Janet to tell her daughter nothing was there when she just saw her husband get levitated which leads to them going public of their hauntings. On top of that, it shouldn't be considered a mystery by the archbishop on why Gordon was in Pennsylvania when he told the secretary what he discovered. The demons then shouldn't have waited so long to pursue Judy considering she was vulnerable for quite a while before her parents followed. There was even no reason for her to not tell her parents she saw a giant Annabelle that chased her. Ed also could've flipped the mirror upside down if he didn't want Jack to look at it. Ignore these flaws however, then you'll appreciate The Conjuring: Last Rites for going as grand as possible in its efforts in concluding a memorable era of horror. If the supernatural remains an interest to you thanks to this franchise, see this as soon as possible.