The Conjuring 2 (2016)

September 12, 2021 10:31 AM

Lorraine and Ed Warren travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits.

Written and directed by James Wan. Currently streaming in the US on HBO Max.

posted by DirtyOldTown (6 comments total)

So as a piece of entertainment, this is a well-made ride, better even than the first. On the other hand, it not only sticks with the claim that these are "true stories" and insists the Warrens are legit, but it also adds a more or less explicitly stated theme that skeptics and academics are bullies enabling the persecution of people of faith. And personally, I find that distasteful, for a variety of reasons.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:26 AM on September 12, 2021

I'm opting for the view that Wan doesn't believe in this stuff any more than he believed in Atlantis because he made Aquaman. I still hate the faith vs. skepticism framing, but if it's all just a yarn he's spinning for thrills, alright, I guess.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:38 AM on September 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

Fun fact: The Crooked Man was not CGI.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:43 AM on September 12, 2021

Due to recent events it's hard to separate the "true story" from the movie. As has been noted this movie, and the entire Conjuring universe, play hard into the idea that all these things happened. Which is normally fine, a filmmaker must assume the audience understands the fictional nature of films, especially with regards to the supernatural. However, the reality is we are now learning that more than a small minority of people take a lot of fictional subject matter as concrete. Knowing this means the whole based-on-a-true story conceit probably needs to die.
posted by M Edward at 2:01 PM on September 15, 2021

I had not seen Ghostwatch when I saw this the first time and now that I have, it's unmistakable how much this film lifts from that.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:44 PM on July 20, 2023

I don't believe in either ghosts or demons but I thought this one had some excellent (and genuinely terrifying) scenes in it.

Must filmmakers assume that audiences understand that films are fictional? It's awfully convenient to their work, but after recent political events plus the popularity of Malcolm Gladwell and Dr. Oz, I don't really have any more faith that people tend to recognize a charlatan. Instead, I think a lot of people just cherry pick the facts which fit their beliefs and filter out whatever doesn't.
posted by johnofjack at 3:47 PM on December 28, 2024