The Conjuring: Last Rites (released Sep. 5, 2025) commits every cardinal sin in film. Funnily enough, the one cliche producers seemed to avoid, although a bit reluctantly it appears, was the token dead dog. 

With the start it had– the demonic mirror and the miracle of the Warren’s stillborn baby coming back to life–  it’s disappointing to see the movie lose all the mystery and suspense it had at the beginning. 

Last Rites follows the Smurls, a family cursed with the previously mentioned demonic mirror, but it also follows Judy Warren (Mia Tomlinson) and her engagement; the jumps in time and place make for a confusing story to follow. We’re here, then we’re there. Wash, rinse, repeat. 

The film follows several different, and frankly random, plots which all conjoin in a confusing and underwhelming finale. The Conjuring: Last Rites insists that the Smurl case was the most vile and terrifying case the Warren’s ever faced, however, the message doesn’t quite land when the family literally power-of-friendships the demon away. 

And of course, it wouldn’t be a Conjuring movie without Annabelle, the demonic doll. She just never gets the hint, does she? The Last Rites tries (and fails) to recreate the fear that audiences felt with the doll’s first appearance in The Conjuring (2013). These attempts result in sloppy scenes, which affect the film’s already unscary feel.

For instance, Annabelle’s first appearance in the Last Rites makes at least a little bit of sense; she appears in one of Judy Warren’s ghostly visions… oh yeah, she gets those by the way. You would think that her presence thereafter would mean a little more though. Unfortunately, she’s simply there and then she isn’t. Anabelle’s features in the movie feel, frankly, redundant and unnecessary. 

The 10th installment in The Conjuring Universe falls short of the previous films in the series. It’s intended to be a big finale; the last chapter in Ed and Lorraine Warren’s story, and the beginning of their daughter Judy’s. If producers wanted a strong end to the story of the beloved Warrens, as well as the actors playing them, The Conjuring: Last Rites simply did not do the job.