I have not followed the Conjuring franchise so far and was taken aback by the conceit that it is based on the adventures of a real life married couple, Lorraine and Ed Warren, who performed exorcisms starting in the 1950s and wrote books about it. Paranormal skeptic that I am, I felt somewhat intimidated by Last Rites‘ attitude that the viewer should take it for granted that the Warrens were the real deal, something that other movies of this ilk never really did, even the original Exorcist, which, while based on a novel, was grounded in Catholic dogma, and so its portrayal of supernatural phenomenon had a certain structural integrity to it. I was expecting something similar from this supposed final installment in the Warren saga (it would appear the franchise itself will continue with other characters), but in the end I failed to locate any kind of rationale that would make sense of what happened in the story.

And the story is comprehensive, starting in 1964 during an exorcism of a possessed mirror that sends the pregnant Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) into labor and nearly kills her and her baby daughter. Of course, the mirror reappears in the couple’s life many years later after that daughter, Judy (Mia Tomlinson), has grown into an adult and Lorraine and Ed (Patrick Wilson) have basically retired from the “ghostbusting business,” a term used derisively by some college students who attend their lecture. One of the reasons for quitting their vocation is that Ed has developed a serious heart condition that could trigger a massive heart attack during, well, contact with evil spirits, and, from the look of things, the spirits are always evil. The mirror comes into play when it’s bought by an extended working class family in the industrial heartland of Pennsylvania in the 80s as a graduation present for one of their daughters, who promptly starts having troubling visions. As the visitations become more intense and affect other family members, a priest is called in to investigate. He subsequently commits suicide under suspicious circumstances, and the Warrens receive a phone call (the priest was an acquaintance, since Ed is the only non-Catholic to whom the Church has granted exorcist credentials) for their assistance in the matter. Though at first they decline, once they are forced to confront the family they realize that the demons in the mirror are causing mischief expressly to get to the Warrens so that they can finish what was started in 1964. 

Whatever real life story is behind this plot, the director, Michael Chaves, does a decent job of laying it out in a way in which all the disparate elements converge so that the Warrens and their ectoplastic nemeses reunite, but after that point things become narratively dodgy. The frights, which have so far been few and far between, increase in frequency and intensity once the Warrens produce their bag of tricks and get to work, but the reasoning behind their methods never come across the way the two priests’ methods did in The Exorcist and its cinematic progeny. At least William Peter Blatty conveyed the historical and religious concepts behind the Church’s means of fighting evil forces that manifest as existential threats. It’s hard to know what sort of rule book the Warrens are following as they try to draw out and banish the spirits of the mirror, which are determined, it turns out, to kill Mia. Consequently, I derived no real satisfaction in their somehow figuring it out, and that’s always the problem with supernatural horror: Writers and directors can do anything they want in order to produce disturbing images and sounds because the supernatural, by definition, does not follow plausible laws. But thrillers, also by definition, must in some way follow an internal logic, and Last Rites had none that I could discern. It’s a lot of sound and fury directed toward an outcome where Mia and her new husband are poised to take over the family business and, thus, the franchise. 

Now playing in Tokyo at Toho Cinemas Hibiya (050-6868-5068), Marunouchi Piccadilly (050-6875-0075), 109 Cinemas Premium Shinjuku (0570-060-109), Shinjuku Piccadilly (050-6861-3011), Toho Cinemas Shinjuku (050-6868-5063).

The Conjuring: Last Rites home page in Japanese

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