THE CONJURING: LAST RITES

In a recent interview, director and producer James Wan stated that the "The Conjuring" saga deserves credit for bringing horror back to the mainstream. Wan is absolutely right: the tetralogy about the Warrens (and also the spin-offs that make up the Conjuringverse) has embedded PURE horror cinema – the kind forbidden to minors and steeped in supernatural themes – into the mainstream, drawing in a wide audience beyond just genre fans and turning each film into an event worthy of the most celebrated summer blockbusters. This has happened for better and worse, since making mainstream cinema in certain genres means making compromises, a rule that the "The Conjuring" saga has indeed followed. But ultimately, the merits outweigh the drawbacks, as the saga started by James Wan has significantly helped revive the genre among the Majors. After a prologue set in the early 1960s, where we see the Warrens handling their very first paranormal case before Lorraine goes into labor and gives birth prematurely to their daughter Judy, the action jumps to 1986, in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. Here, the large Smurl family, after buying an old mirror at a flea market, begins to experience increasingly disturbing and violent events, culminating in the injury of the eldest daughter and the rape of Jack Smurl, possessed by a supernatural presence during a night paralysis. The Smurl case quickly makes headlines, with their house besieged by journalists and self-proclaimed paranormal experts, while public opinion is divided between those who empathize with them and those who accuse them of seeking fame. Amidst all this, the Warrens have taken a "break" from work and refuse to get involved, until an unexpected event hits close to home and leads them straight to the Smurl residence. Inspired, like the previous films, by a real – and well-documented – case that Ed and Lorraine Warren worked on during their careers, "The Conjuring – Il rito finale" still includes a substantial fictional component, useful for deepening the Warren family's story and making it more "cinematic" and tightly bound to the supernatural investigation. Everything about the prologue and the cursed mirror, in fact, has nothing to do with the real Smurl case, which in documented facts was much more violent and shocking (for more details, see the Wikipedia page). However, what is built around the main story is essential to reinforce the family dimension that is the backbone of this saga. Moreover, the Smurl story was already the subject of the 1991 film "The Haunted," directed by Robert Mandel, in which Stephen Markle and Diana Baker played the Warrens. In the previous chapters, especially the second and third, we've witnessed the deep bond between Ed and Lorraine, a true love that fuels their battle against the forces of Evil. In this fourth film, however, the focus shifts to Judy, their only daughter, who becomes the third protagonist. Born from death and raised learning to silence the call from the beyond that Lorraine taught her to ignore, Judy Warren is the key to the story, the driving force behind everything revolving around her family, starting with the reality her parents must face: their daughter has grown up and it's time to let her be independent. In a way, the rich backstory about Judy and her parents' concern risks overshadowing the Smurl haunting case and the film's purely horror soul. This might disappoint hardcore fans of the genre. But it's also true that the screenplay by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing (Autopsy, The Nun II), and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (The Conjuring – Il caso Enfield, Orphan, Aquaman) works especially well thanks to its careful exploration of relationships and attention to the Warren family's dynamics, all elements that make viewers genuinely care for the characters (whom they already know!) and suffer the danger alongside them. Michael Chaves, unfortunately, is not James Wan, and while he manages to deliver a couple of well-crafted moments of tension (the doll in front of the mirror, the John Wayne painting in the basement), those genuine scares from the first two "The Conjuring" films that still linger in our minds are missing. As with all chapters of this universe, a key factor in the film's success is the incredible sound design that gives voice to fear through effects, tense music, and the classic soundtrack. "The Conjuring – Il rito finale" follows this rule, and the sound does half the work! Alongside the usual Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, now perfectly cast as Ed and Lorraine Warren, we find Mia Tomlinson as a twenty-something Judy Warren and Ben Hardy (The Voyeurs, Bohemian Rhapsody) as her boyfriend. Returning from previous films are Shannon Kook (the Warrens' assistant) and Steve Coulter (Father Gordon), plus many cameos from other chapters of the saga, including James Wan himself (see if you can spot him!). We're far from the quality and horror intensity of the first two films by James Wan, but "The Conjuring – Il rito finale" is still a good movie that skillfully blends character development with horror dynamics, without abandoning the Christian undertones that run through the entire saga. If you have the patience to stay until the end of the credits, there's a tasty bonus that pits reality against imagination.