The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025) is directed by Michael Chaves, featuring a script by a team of 4 writers (I don’t name-drop writers unless there are more than three. I can’t support a strategy that often leads to homogenization). It stars Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Steve Coulter, Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan, Beau Gadsdon, Kila Lord Cassidy, John Brotherton, Shannon Kook, Paula Lindblom, Madison Lawlor, Orion Smith, and Leigh Jones. This supposed fourth and final installment of The Conjuring franchise (excluding its many spinoffs) picks up with Ed (Wilson) & Lorraine (Farmiga) Warren, recently retired due to the former’s poor health. Now focused on settling down, spending more time with family, and writing their life story, the couple finally seems to have found peace. Unfortunately, their quiet life is soon upended when their daughter, Judy (Tomlinson), now grown up and on the verge of marrying her loving boyfriend, Tony (Hardy), begins having visions of a terrible evil. Searching for answers, Judy is led to a Pennsylvania family being terrorized by a violent force. Hot on her trail, Ed and Lorraine soon realize that this particular demon is one they’ve encountered before, forcing them to confront their complicated past and possibly pay the ultimate price.

Farmiga and Wilson are once again authentic, emotional, and just generally likable as Ed & Lorraine, no surprise there. What I didn’t expect was Mia Tomlinson’s Judy and Ben Hardy’s Tony to be almost as likable as Ed & Lorraine. That being said, Judy is a somewhat plain character, but she’s proactive, intelligent, and has plenty of fun references to her experiences in previous installments. For example, there is at least one or two particularly fun moments that reference how she still feels about dolls after her childhood experience with Annabelle. She receives most of the focus, but the easy standout is Ben Hardy as Judy’s nervous fiancé. Their romance is nothing new, but it quickly emulates the same kind of sentimental sweetness seen between Ed & Lorraine. The real fun begins when we learn that Ed isn’t too keen on someone marrying the person he still sees, and always will see, as his “little girl.” Wilson plays the archetype perfectly, giving Ed’s complex emotions the nuance they require. When the two inevitably reconcile, it feels earned, which allows the otherwise cliché ‘passing of the torch’ ending to work a lot better than it has any right to. These kinds of light, family-centric character moments are easily the strongest of the film. I’d almost prefer a version of the movie that’s devoid of hauntings and horror. 

Once again, Michael Chaves is in the director’s chair, and once again, he fails to emulate Wan’s rare ability to make an audience jump. The extended horror set pieces return, which is odd considering how well their absence worked in the previous film. They’re just a bunch of slow, predictable, unoriginal, and painfully dull wastes of time. The only somewhat memorable scare comes during a dressing room sequence that rips its images and concept straight out of Into the Mirror (2003), more commonly known as its American remake, Mirrors (2008). 

This is more of a mixed bag than any other installment, featuring some of the franchise’s weakest scares and best character moments. There are a lot of fun needle drops, but they’re often used in scenes that feel oddly familiar. For example, this franchise is now 4/4 at introducing each film’s cursed family with a tracking shot that follows one of them walking through their busy house as a cool song plays. It felt a bit awkward in the previous film, but here it’s just painfully lazy. There’s so little care for these characters, I just wonder what went wrong during the writing or production. I watched this movie today, and I can’t for the life of me remember anything about them; they’re that forgettable. Not to mention, logic is often thrown out the window. At one point in the film, this family has 11 people staying in their obviously tiny house. Yet, one of them is still able to walk all around the house, in the dark, opening doors to rooms that have nobody inside, and doesn’t seemingly once consider, I don’t know, maybe turning on a light? Oh yeah, and don’t even get me started on the decision to have the guy with severe, life-threatening heart problems be the one to help carry a 500-pound haunted mirror across a bunch of 2x4s in a rickety attic. 

Overall, the film serves as a fun yet ultimately disappointing conclusion to the franchise, showcasing some of its highest highs and lowest lows. Four films into a series that’s clearly running out of steam, why would it make any sense to release the most formulaic entry yet? That being said, it’s been absolutely murdering at the box office, so what the hell do I know? Thankfully, Wilson, Farmiga, and the film’s strong familial themes keep it from being a total disaster. If you like the franchise and aren’t too picky, I think it’s generally worth watching for the closure it provides. C+