With four Conjuring movies, three Annabelle movies, two Nun movies, and a couple of spin-offs since 2013 and the original The Conjuring movie, it has been a wild ride for this franchise. I have to say, I honestly do not think that there is a bad movie in the bunch. I have enjoyed them all. Granted, I have liked some more than others, but I have never had a bad time watching any of these movies.
Where to Watch The Conjuring: Last Rites
The Conjuring: Last Rites was released on September 5, 2025. You can stream the film from a digital platform. You can expect it to become available on HBO Max in 2-3 months from this date.
The Movie Review
Before The Conjuring: Last Rites was released, the wife and I did a rewatch of all the previous movies, and I still stand by this being a franchise without a bad entry. The paranormal stories of Ed and Loraine Warren just clicked with me, and I think that this supposed final entry was a good way to bring what is now the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time to a close.
The Conjuring Universe vs Other Horror Franchises
By the way, how crazy is that? When you think of the biggest horror franchises, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th, perhaps even Scream are the ones that come to mind. However. When it comes to pure box office power of putting butts in theatre seats, The Conjuring universe is number 1. I would wager there are many of you reading this now who will go straight to Wikipedia to check if this is true and then be shocked that it is!
A Deep Dive into Ed and Loraine Warren’s Final Case
While all of The Conjuring movies are about Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s Ed and Loraine Warren, The Conjuring: Last Rites has Ed and Loraine at the front of the story more so than any other movie in the franchise. We start with a fantastic flashback to one of their earliest cases, a case that they did not actually solve, which also tied into the birth of their daughter, Judy. One of the things I have gotten a kick out of with this franchise is the way that Judy is always played by a different actress due to her being a different age in all of the movies.
The Smurl Family and the Haunted Mirror
In typical Conjuring fashion, the Smurl family ends up being haunted by the entity that is attached to the mirror, and it actually goes after all of the family! There are some very creepy moments here and some great jump scares, a couple that legit got my wife jumping out of her seat! For months, they have been tormented by this thing!
Judy Warren’s Paranormal Gift Comes into Focus
Now, rather than just having Ed and Loraine show up to crack the case, The Conjuring: Last Rites is a much more personal movie. Judy is now all grown up, and she has a boyfriend called Tony that she is very serious about, but she is also dealing with the stress and terror of the same gift that her mother has. This was something that has been touched on in other Conjuring movies, and the way her gift has grown has been done well since Anabelle Comes Home, where you first really saw that she had it.
A Personal Struggle: The Warrens’ Final Battle
In addition to this, Ed and Loraine have not been working cases due to Ed’s poor heart, and you can tell Ed has had trouble with this. While I liked the more personal Warren touch and the family drama that this movie had. I do feel that, as a result, I felt less connected to the Smurl family. In the other three Conjuring movies, they did a great job of making you care about the family that the Warrens were trying to help. I think this movie kind of skims past that a little to really focus on the Warrens.
The Conjuring: Last Rites – Final Thoughts
In typical Conjuring fashion, the Smurl family ends up being haunted by the entity that is attached to the mirror, and it actually goes after all of the family! There are some very creepy moments here and some great jump scares, a couple that legit got my wife jumping out of her seat! For months, they have been tormented by this thing!
Now, rather than just having Ed and Loraine show up to crack the case, The Conjuring: Last Rites is a much more personal movie. Judy is now all grown up, and she has a boyfriend called Tony that she is very serious about, but she is also dealing with the stress and terror of the same gift that her mother has. This was something that has been touched on in other Conjuring movies, and the way her gift has grown has been done well since Anabelle Comes Home, where you first really saw that she had it.
In addition to this, Ed and Loraine have not been working cases due to Ed’s poor heart, and you can tell Ed has had trouble with this. While I liked the more personal Warren touch and the family drama that this movie had. I do feel that, as a result, I felt less connected to the Smurl family. In the other three Conjuring movies, they did a great job of making you care about the family that the Warrens were trying to help. I think this movie kind of skims past that a little to really focus on the Warrens.
