Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return for one last time (as of this writing) as an aging Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are finally tinkering with the idea of retirement. After Ed’s heart scare and the increasing toll that her psychic abilities take on Lorraine, they sort of begrudgingly come to terms with the idea of just staying at home and enjoying their Golden Years together.
That is, until the Smurl family makes a desperate plea for them to investigate their home. Demonic activity has posed such a threat that the family is terrified that whatever is lurking within their home is dead set on killing them. The Warrens stick to their guns, initially, but their daughter Judy (played by relative newcomer Mia Tomlinson, who is really quite good) reminds them that the Warrens “don’t run from fights”, and decides to help them herself. You see Judy has been wrestling with her own stressors: she’s planning a wedding to her fiancée Tony Spera (X-Men: Apocalypse Angel, Ben Hardy), who himself is learning to adapt to a life in the paranormal. She has also been experiencing increased psychic phenomena, evidently a hereditary trait from Lorraine, and has decided, in helping the Smurls, that this is the best way to confront her fears and do what her mother does so gallantly.
Upon entering the Smurl home, however, it seems that this isn’t just another ordinary demonic presence, but one from Ed and Lorraine’s past that’s so insidious, that over twenty years prior, it very nearly caused Lorraine to miscarry Judy.
The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)
⭐️⭐️1/2
Advertised dramatically as “the case that ended everything”, this fourth and supposedly final chapter in the Conjuring legacy is about a 50/50 accurate retelling of one of their most infamous cases: The Smurl Family Haunting documented in the 1988 bestseller “The Haunted: The True Story of One Family’s Nightmare”, a harrowing account that included such alleged attacks as horrific as bites, scratches, bruises, and – most terrifyingly – rape and sexual assault (neither of which occurs in the film, probably for the better). Combining the violent haunting with another, unrelated case involving a mirror, we’re getting a “2-for-1” flick as a send-off to the Warrens. At best, it’s creepy and well-performed by the leads. At worst, well…it’s predictable, overlong, and sometimes unintentionally funny. I know, “ouch”.
The Conjuring series itself (not the Universe as a whole) began to show its wear-and-tear in the previous film, The Devil Made Me Do It, an entertaining, if not bloated and by-the-numbers, third entry, and Last Rites, sadly, isn’t much different. The scares are a bit routine now, and the characterization of the families is getting thinner. You worried about the Perrons in Rhode Island, and you worried about the Hodgsons in Enfield, but Arnie Johnson’s possession and now the Smurls and their ordeal hold about as much tension and sympathy as, well…any run-of-the-mill Amityville sequel (this one even involves a haunted mirror, ala A New Generation, and dozens of other paranormal films). It’s a lackluster script by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, the latter of whom wrote The Devil Made Me Do It. Johnson-McGoldrick seems to know the beats to the songs, but lyrically, something is missing, and the other two writers didn’t inspire anything new. Chad and Carey Hayes, who wrote the first two films, knew that we must be scared for the family being haunted for any of this to work properly, seemingly taking their cues from films like Poltergeist and The Entity to drum up genuine concern.
In contrast, Arnie Johnson in Devil Made Me Do It, and now the Smurls, an interchangeable house of eight, simply feel like cardboard cut-outs whose sole purpose is to bear witness to the activity, react with fear, and then stand the hell out of the way so the stars can work their magic. I never once – not once – felt concerned for their plight, so thinly are they written. This isn’t to say the jarring appearances of the leering “old crone” aren’t bone-chilling, or that there aren’t a couple well-placed jolts, or that the abrupt, projectile vomiting of blood and broken glass won’t curl your toes (not to mention the untimely death of a series regular), but overall, the oil in the engine is getting sticky in this franchise.
It’s not a total wash though. Last Rites still knows that Wilson and Farmiga are the heart of this series, and as before, their chemistry, fondness, and warmth make up for miles. The story revolves heavily about the fear for our children, and while the montage of Judy growing up in the opening, and the wave of familiar faces that appear during the finale provide the film with a couple misty, poignant moments of finality, it’s only half of what makes these films work. Poignancy alone is fine, but in a horror film, poignancy augments the terror, and Last Rites is relatively low on that. Wilson, Farmiga, and now Tomlinson, portray a strong family unit. One we still care about, one we still believe in. It’s that protective, unwavering love between a parent and their child that carries Last Rites and keeps us invested. The Smurls simply exist, no more, no less.
There’s a sad scene early in the film of Ed and Lorraine doing one of their college hall lectures to a sparsely filled hall, when they used to pack them in until it was standing room only. The few that are there are there to heckle, not learn. I don’t want The Conjuring franchise to reach that moment. It hasn’t yet, for me, personally. But it doesn’t feel as bulletproof as it did in 2016. It’s best to close the book here.
HOME VIDEO
The Conjuring: Last Rites hit shelves in late fall, 2025 in both standard Blu-Ray and 4K UHD formats, both with Digital codes. As is usually the case with successful Warner Bros. films, the “bonus features”, such as they are, are scant. The three items provided amount to a combined runtime of roughly 25 whole minutes. No commentaries, no documentaries about the real case, minimal interviews with the cast, no further insight into the real Warrens and their involvement. Not even a trailer. It being their supposed final film in the franchise, you’d think someone would at least let Wilson and Farmiga take a fond look back at the legacy they were a part of and expound a bit on what the roles meant to them over the years, but that makes too much sense, I guess. This, my collector friends, is weak sauce.
Even the far more successful Weapons from last year got the same “ho-hum” treatment, showing exactly what Warner Bros. thinks of their horror output, and their fans in general.
Be that as it may, the disappointing collection contains:
- Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 & 1.78:1 UHD Widescreen
- Audio: Dolby Atmos English, Dolby TrueHD English Surround 7.1, Dolby Digital English Surround 5.1, Dolby Digital French Surround 5.1, Dolby Atmos German, Dolby Digital German Surround 5.1, Dolby Atmos Italian, Dolby Digital Italian Surround 5.1, Dolby Digital Spanish Surround 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, German SDH, Italian SDH, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish.
- Last Rites: An Era Ends
- The Conjuring: Crafting Scenes
- Michael Chaves: Believer
As was also the case with Weapons, only the 4K UHD copies came with first-pressing slipcovers, while the standard Blu-Ray did not, and featured alternate artwork. A 2-Disc combo SteelBook with a 4K UHD and Blu-Ray was also released (with a slip) for a few bucks more, but no additional bonus material.
Bits ‘N’ Pieces
Traum-A-Meter:
2 out of 4
Ax murders, a sink overflowing with blood, projectile blood/glass vomiting, and a couple of suicides by possession. This series has never been about violence or gore, but there’s a moment or two of nastiness.
Today’s Jam: “Golden” by Huntrix was the top of the charts this weekend in 2025, having appeared in the summer Netflix hit KPop Demon Hunters, where Rumi, Mira, and Zoey were just getting started, as Ed and Lorraine were quietly retiring.
TODAY’S MORAL:
Eight people live in this house. Eight people have experienced this. Eight people are not crazy.