"The Conjuring: Last Rites" was an announcement that excited me in 2021, now in 2025, the trailers looked promising, Michael Chaves who directed the lackluster "The Curse of La Llorona" and later the decent "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It", seemed like he was prepared with a great fourth and final installment (supposedly it will be), but it was not like that. The script is based on the supposedly true events experienced by the Smurl family and had already been better adapted with the television movie "The Haunted" (1991), Chaves' direction manages to be effective during the first hour, which is the best part of the film, but once the 60 minutes are up the script declines, it becomes a cheap, poorly directed drama and in the last 20 minutes the horror returns in an exaggerated, unrealistic, silly and terribly directed by Chaves. The cast is good, especially Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as the iconic Warrens, in addition to a great performance by Steve Coulter, whose character has greater importance than in previous films. The cinematography is good, but as the film progresses, it becomes too dark and impossible to see anything of quality. The positive aspects are the atmosphere and the costume design, which really hark back to 1986. The worst aspects are the pathetic and unrealistic digital effects. "The Conjuring: Last Rites" is disappointing once seen; although the first 60 seconds are good, it seems like three films of different genres and not one coherent film.
