The Nun II has debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a score that more than doubles the original movie. The Conjuring Universe movie, which premiered in theaters on September 8, is a direct sequel to the 2018 spinoff, which focuses on Valak, the demonic nun introduced in 2016’s The Conjuring 2. The movie sees the return of original characters Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) and Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) along with a new ensemble as Valak (Bonnie Aarons) returns to haunt a French boarding school.
Rotten Tomatoes has now aggregated an official score for the The Nun II thanks to input from 61 critics. Though it could fluctuate as more reviews are added throughout the weekend, at the time of writing The Nun II boasts a 52% score. While this is still considered Rotten, it is more than twice the score of The Nun, which is the worst-rated movie in the entire franchise at 24%.
The Nun II’s Score is Still Bad for The Conjuring Universe
Currently, The Nun II‘s Rotten Tomatoes score is at the lower end of The Conjuring Universe. Despite being an improvement on the original, it is the fourth worst-rated of the nine movies in the franchise, above only The Nun, Annabelle (28%) and The Curse of La Llorona (28%), the latter of which was also helmed by The Nun II director Michael Chaves. In addition to earning another Rotten score for the Nun subfranchise, this score continues the franchise’s recent downward trend after the mixed received The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (55%).
There is plenty of material in The Conjuring and its sequels that can be spun off into further movies even if The Nun II doesn’t earn a follow-up. However, there is only one movie in the entire franchise that is officially in active development. That would be the main branch sequel The Conjuring: Last Rites, which could very well be the franchise’s last chance to prove itself because two of the most recent outings, The Devil Made Me Do it and La Llorona, are the two lowest-grossing entries.
It remains to be seen if The Nun II can match the box office power of the original movie despite its negative reviews. The Nun remains the highest-grossing Conjuring movie, so that’s entirely possible. However, if that does not come to pass, Last Rites will have to drag the franchise out of its critical and commercial slump if there is to be any strong hope for its immediate future.
