The Big Picture

The Nun II is a successful horror sequel that connects to the wider Conjuring universe and reveals the connection between Sister Irene and Lorraine Warren. The film delivers solid scares, introduces new terrifying monsters, and includes Easter eggs that connect to other movies in the franchise. Director Michael Chaves discusses the creation of the goat demon monster, the emotional core of the film, and the importance of balancing scares with storytelling.

In a solid year for Horror movies at the box office, The Nun II brought audiences back to the Conjuring universe for another spooky showdown with everyone’s favorite demonic nun, Valak. The sequel has brought in a decent $268 million haul worldwide and holds a 73% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Taissa Farmiga returns as Sister Irene in an installment penned by Akela Cooper and directed by franchise veteran Michael Chaves. The story sees Sister Irene take on Valak once again after the demon escapes the events of the first film by possessing Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet).

The Nun II bridges the wildly successful The Nun back into the events that were established in The Conjuring and delivers a long-awaited answer to how Sister Irene is connected to franchise mainstay Lorraine Warren, played by Taissa Farmiga’s real-life sister Vera Farmiga. The film features several solid scares and introduces new terrifying monsters to the series.

Ahead of The Nun II’s 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD release, I sat down with director Chaves to break down the horror sequel and discuss some of the key points in the latest installment of the Conjuring franchise. During our conversation, Chaves spoke about the inspiration for the new goat demon and explained why he wanted to take the connection between Irene and Lorraine beyond Easter eggs. He also cleared up where that post-credits scene fits into the Conjuring timeline and shared what he believes are the essentials of a good scare. While Chaves also spoke excitedly about deleted scenes for the sequel, Warner Bros. confirmed that there will be no deleted scenes featured on the Blu-ray or DVD releases. That minor disappointment aside, Chaves continued to speak about the thrill of working in the Horror genre and collaborating with talents like Farmiga and Cooper. You can watch our conversation in the player above or check out the full transcript below.

Image via Warner Bros. The Nun II The sequel to the worldwide smash hit follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face to face with Valak, the demon nun. Release Date September 8, 2023 Director Michael Chaves Cast Storm Reid, Anna Popplewell, Bonnie Aarons, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet Rating R Runtime 110 minutes Genres Horror Writers Akela Cooper Franchise(s) The Conjuring
COLLIDER: I love this movie so much. I’d say it’s definitely my favorite in the franchise outside of the core trilogy. So, with the physical release coming up, what are you excited about and hoping that fans get out of the second and third watches of The Nun II?

MICHAEL CHAVES: Well, first of all, thank you. I think for fans, I’m excited for them to just pick up on Easter eggs. There’s so much stuff that we have in here which kind of connects to other movies, connects to the larger story. We have some really cool behind-the-scenes stuff and then also a couple of deleted scenes that weren’t able to make it into the final cut. There’s a lot of stuff in there. I’m excited for people to see it.

Image via New Line Cinema 

I’m very excited to hear that we’ll be seeing deleted scenes. I can’t wait. As you mentioned, you really started to sort of stitch together the universe in a way that hadn’t really been done so far yet in the franchise. I really enjoyed that revelation of how Irene and Lorraine are connected. Can you talk about what went into creating that big, final climactic sequence with that revelation connecting those threads?

CHAVES: Yeah. I think it’s something that, you know, fans already kind of had theories about it. It just seemed a little bit too perfect that two sisters were cast in the same series, and we needed a connection. I think in the original draft that I got from Akela [Cooper], it was in there, it was always in there, but it was more as an Easter egg, and I just thought that it needs to be bigger. There was already an Easter egg in the first Nun that connects her to Lorraine on her passport. If you look at her passport…I won’t get into that, but no, I was like, “We need to really deliver fans a really clear announcement.”

Then I also just thought, I really think that it needs to land with some emotion. Then, that’s where I started developing the mother story. These movies always have, you know, the first Conjuring has the family theme. That’s like the theme, of the family, and once everybody’s been saved. I think it really speaks to just, you know, the Warrens, I think it speaks to [how] all these movies in different ways deal with families in different forms. And so I just thought that Irene’s connection to her mother, which was kind of like a throwaway line in the first Nun movie about, basically something to the effect of her dad thought her mom was crazy, I just thought that there’s something there. “I think we gotta pull on that thread. We gotta pull on the Lorraine thread, and we gotta tie all that up.” And I think it connected to people. I think that idea of connection to family really worked.

I think you did such a great job with that. I was gonna ask about how you go about making sure that you balance that emotional core with the right amount of scares and terror in a movie like this when you’re working with the scriptwriters and bringing it all together.

CHAVES: Yeah, I think it always starts with a script. You’re always trying to figure it out there. I mean, it’s an endless process. Everybody is so essential. Everyone plays an essential part. I think I was really graced with some amazing actors. I think Taissa does some of her best work in this movie, and I’m so proud of it. It’s not, honestly, anything I did. I think she has kind of gotten better with each movie that she’s done. I mean, she’s still so young and just becoming the amazing actor that she’s gonna become. But I just really gave her the room to work with it and to dig into it, and I’m so proud of her. I just feel like a good coach on the sides, you know? [Laughs] They’re, like, clapping her on and just supporting her. You know, we feel these emotions, and we really feel the story through the actors, and I think that that was one of the biggest keys of making it work.

Image Via Warner Bros.

Taissa does such a phenomenal job in this movie. As a huge fan of this franchise and your previous work in this franchise, I know that you pulled off that awesome credit scene with some footage from The Conjuring 3 [The Devil Made Me Do It]. Can you share anything about going into the credit scene? What do you want fans to take away from it and does it tease anything about the possible future?

CHAVES: First of all, what’s so funny is up until this junket, I thought I had fooled everyone. It was footage from Conjuring 3, and I had cut it out. I think we had shown it to one test audience, and beyond that, no one had seen it. The only thing, and I realized what gave me away, is [that] one line from Patrick was used in, like, an HBO Max promo, and that’s how it found out. But I thought I was so smart, and I thought I fooled everyone. [Laughs] It’s like, “No one’s gonna know what this is from. This is gonna be great.”

So yes, it was from the third Conjuring, and the reason I put it in there honestly was because audiences, at the end of the movie, I think it was a little bit too subtle in terms of, how does this connect to the rest of the chronology? So that was something that, as we tested it, people kept on saying, “Is he still possessed? Does he get exorcized by the Warrens? I kept on seeing it, and I was like, “Oh man, I don’t know what I’m gonna do!” And I thought, “Oh, I got this footage; I’m just gonna put that in there as like a mid-credit.” And then the studio saw it, and then they were like, “Oh, this is awesome.” Because they forgot we even had it, and so I thought it was such a win. I thought I pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes, but the internet found me out. [Laughs]

Well, it was great, and I loved seeing them at the end of the movie. You introduced a new, cool, Black Phillip-style sort of extension of Valak with that new monster. Can you talk a little bit about creating that creature and sort of evolving what Valak can do in this universe?

CHAVES: Yeah. You know, honestly, I love the Black Phillip, “It’s a crossover!” Guys, you found it out. We’re breaking it here: it’s a [The] Witch crossover with the Conjuring universe. We’re expanding. [Laughs] No, that’s a joke. You know, actually, that monster was already in Akela’s first draft. I love the idea of a goat demon. I was like, “Oh man, how do we make this look right?” Because we hadn’t seen any real monsters, it’s usually much more implied in the Conjuring movies, but I wanted to see more of him. I knew Corin [Hardy] drew a lot of inspiration from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and I thought, “I love that movie.” I really connected with Corin as we talked about that.

So I went back, and I loved, in Bram Stoker’s Dracula—I don’t know if you remember or if you’ve seen it—the bat creature. The bat creature that comes out of the closet is so awesome, it’s like practical effects, and I was like, “Oh my god, I gotta do that. I gotta put that type of monster in the movie.” So that was the main inspiration, and then we just kind of went from there, and I think it really worked. It was also very surprising. You know, we hadn’t seen such a monster in that fashion that was very physical and tactile. Usually, they tend to be more demons, and I think that that’s kind of what took people by surprise.

Michael Chaves Compares Watching a Horror Movie to Riding a Roller Coaster
Image Via Warner Bros.

In your opinion, what are the absolute essentials of a good scare?

CHAVES: You know, it’s so many different things. I’m still figuring it out. I don’t know. [Laughs] You know, everyone’s ready to go on that ride. And, speaking just as an audience member, going into scary movies, I think you’re ready. It’s like being on a roller coaster; you’re ready for the carts to start, like, click-clacking up that hill. And I think that process of just kind of getting drawn up and being latched in, I think that it’s a rhythm thing. You’re kind of drawn into, like, “We’re going on the ride again.” Being able to announce those moments in ways that are not too over the top, but still, you know, draw you in, I think that’s essential and just playing it like a roller coaster. I think, also, great roller coasters, it’s the dynamics. It’s not like a bunch of the same drops. It’s not just a bunch of corkscrews. It’s a combination of things, and just putting people off guard, and I think that’s part of the magic of it.

I love that anticipation. I’ve really enjoyed watching your direction evolve over these past few spooky movies, and you’re carving out a good space for yourself in horror. Do you have any new horror projects coming up that you can tease, any particular horror IP that you would love to bring to the screen, or any hopes to come back to the Conjuring universe?

CHAVES: You know, I have a lot of stuff. I don’t know if I can talk about anything at this point. I mean, I love the genre. You know, it’s funny, there was a period of time where people would always ask like, “Oh, well, when are you gonna get out of horror,” as if it’s something to leave or there’s [laughs] another tier of moviemaking, and I’m like, “Horror is having such a moment now!” It is so resilient. I mean, audiences love it, theaters love it. It’s bringing people back to theaters post-COVID. I mean, this is like bringing people in and creating the habit of going to the movies. I’m so grateful to be working in this genre and just making movies and making theatrical movies. I feel very lucky.

The Nun II is available to stream on Max and you can order your physical 4K UHD, Blu-ray, or DVD copy from Amazon and other major retailers or pick it up in stores on November 14.

The Conjuring What began with the paranormal investigation of a possibly haunted house has become a sprawling franchise that includes evil dolls, demonic nuns, and even more on the way, providing big thrills for fans of supernatural horror. Created by James Wan First Film The Conjuring Latest Film The Nun II Upcoming Films The Conjuring 4 Cast Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Taissa Farmiga, Storm Reid, Jonas Bloquet, Steve Coulter, Mckenna Grace Where to watch HBO Max
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