The 5th movie from the Conjuring franchise starring Taissa Farmiga and Demian Bichir hit theatres nearly two weekends ago, and reported box office sales of over $53.5 million in North America, beating 2013’s debut of ‘The Conjuring’ by nearly 10 million. The release broke similar records in the UK.
Despite being a box office hit, many have left disappointed by the film. The movie’s potential was sky-high, given the plot development laid forward by the Nun’s appearance in an earlier Conjuring film, the debut of Taissa Farmiga – an American Horror Story favourite and sister of the Conjuring’s previous star Vera Farmiga – and a spooky castle in Romania full of mysterious nuns and an unknown evil. Although the film was undeniably well set, it seemed to fall short of any resonance with the audience. Many felt the movie was ‘flat’, seemed rushed and failed to keep people in a suspension of disbelief. At some points, it seemed downright gimmicky and inconsistent. More than half of the scares were from nuns jumping out of dark hallways, which got old very quickly. Elements of a storyline were thrown together in a way that made it painfully obvious how good the movie could have been.
In the end, the movie was not what you’d expect from the conjuring franchise – but that expectation at least carried its box office sales over the last week.
