The Nun 2 is set in 1956, four years after the events of The Nun, following Sister Irene and Frenchie once again. Although thought to be defeated, Sister Irene will once again face off against Valak. A new battle between good and evil will commence in this thrilling and terrifying sequel.
The Nun 2 is directed by Michael Chaves from a screenplay penned by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and Akela Cooper. The Nun 2 stars Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Storm Reid, Anna Popplewell, Bonnie Aarons, and Katelyn Rose Downey. The movie is produced by James Wan, who created the world of The Conjuring in which The Nun 2 is set, and Peter Safran.
Screen Rant spoke with Michael Chaves about his new movie, The Nun 2. He reveals where Sister Irene and Frenchie are at the start of the sequel and how the first movie has impacted their lives. Chaves also teases possible connections to the fourth Conjuring movie. Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and the movie covered here would not exist without the labor of the writers and actors in both unions.
Director Michael Chaves Talks The Nun 2
Screen Rant: Michael congratulations on The Nun 2! The Conjuring universe is back, and I feel like every sequel in this franchise elevates its predecessor. The Nun 2 was no different. What have sister Irene and Maurice been up to since the last time we saw them?
Michael Chaves: It’s five years since the last film, and they thought they defeated Valak, but we realize that in fact Valak escaped. That’s one of the last little teases that we gave away in the last film. In this film, it is five years since that moment, and Irene is living the quiet life. She is living in this convent in Italy and very happy to be living a very anonymous life. No one knows about her adventures.
But even though she doesn’t want to kind of tell her story, the legend of the previous film has basically spread through the convent. You gotta imagine it’s like this kind of legendary nun who has killed the demon. So she’s trying to escape that. She’s living this quiet Rambo life of hiding. Meanwhile, Maurice who if you’ve seen the previous film, spoiler alert, he’s got Valak inside of him. Valak has escaped within Maurice.
Maurice is now living and working in this boarding school in the south of France in Exxon Provence. He looks like, if you didn’t know he was possessed, it looks like a otherwise happy life for him. He’s settling down. You could see a friendship with one of the young girls, a flirtation with one of the teachers who works there, but I think anyone who knows or saw the previous film knows that something terrible is coming
Absolutely! Valak is also back and as terrifying as ever. How does The Nun 2 build upon the horror elements from the first film?
Michael Chaves: I think that the Nun is such an iconic villain. I think that was one of the things that when I first started talking to New Line about it, I love the Nun I love what James created with Bonnie. Bonnie she’s such an amazing actress and she really gets this character. She really is, she’s so scary. In terms of her powers and how we built a lot of the scares. I felt like from the very beginning from Conjuring 2 there was a very unique visual quality to how she would manifest. She’s even kind of different than Bathsheba. If you look at the difference between Conjuring 1 to Conjuring 2 she brings a different filmic language with her that is very cinematic and very cool.
It’s funny because I thought it was actually a really great pairing with France because in France art is so celebrated and people will actually basically make faces out of street art. If you see a manhole cover and there’s two holes they’ll draw a smiley face or draw a face. There’s something about seeing faces in the environment and seeing just figures in the environment that I thought was, it’s so unique to France.
And then I was like, there’s something kind of very interesting about. like you think of the nun painting in Conjuring 2 and so much of that the artistry in how she manifest in her language. I just thought this was such a unique pairing. And so that’s one of the ideas that we started exploring is how can she just manifest herself in the environment? Irene is tracking Valak down. She’s moving across Europe trying to find her. Even within the school there’s all of these, and I won’t give anything away, but there’s these different manifestations where she kind of takes form
I love The Conjuring universe. Does The Nun 2 lead directly into The Conjuring 4?
Michael Chaves: No comment. I don’t know, you have to see the movie! I think that there is…because I wouldn’t want to give anything away if there was anything in there that could tease anything. I would love that as a fan. I would just encourage fans to discover if it existed in there, but I think that the movie is filled with… this is 10 years that The Conjuring universe has been around and there’s a lot of threads that lead to this moment and to this movie. I’m excited for people to discover it. I wouldn’t want to ruin it, but I think there’s a lot of fun stuff in there.
Yeah, the horror in this movie is definitely elevated. It is phenomenal. Look, I have one last question for you. I saw Peter Safran last night, and I know that he’s co-running the DC Universe with James Gunn. James Wan and David F. Sandberg have come from The Conjuring universe. Is there a character in the DCU that you’d like to put your stamp on at all?
Michael Chaves: I love comic book movies. I got to also say I love horror movies. Maybe there is a hybrid of that somehow, but I just feel like at this moment, I feel so blessed and lucky to be working in the horror space and working within The Conjuring universe. I’m really, I’m grateful for this moment. Now, it’s like, you gotta just appreciate it.
About The Nun 2
The sequel picks up in 1956, four years after the first film, and moves the setting to France from Romania. There, a priest is murdered, and Sister Irene comes face to face with Valak once again. While this isn’t much to go on, it does tease a new battle between Irene and Valak and a fight between good and evil.
Key Release Date
The Nun II
Release Date:2023-09-08
