Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (December 7, 2025)
When The Conjuring became a hit in 2013, it spawned three proper sequels and seven spinoff movies, with 2025’s Last Rites as the final entry – maybe. Given that Rites earned nearly $500 million worldwide, the skeptic in me finds it difficult to believe it actually marks the end of this particular road.
After a prologue that reintroduces paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) along with daughter Judy (Emmy Nolan as a 10-year-old, Mia Tomlinson as an adult, unnamed infant as baby), we go to 1986 to meet the Smurl family in northeast Pennsylvania. When teenage daughter Heather (Kila Lord Cassidy) receives an elaborate antique mirror as a gift for her Catholic confirmation, spooky weirdness ensues.
Though Ed’s heart condition prompts him and Lorraine to take a break from their career, they hear about the Smurls and decide to come back to the job. This leads them on arguably the most dangerous case of their lives.
While my opening paragraph exhibited major cynicism toward the notion that Rites will finish off the Conjuring franchise, I do believe it will act as the final chapter for Ed and Lorraine as played by Wilson and Farmiga. No spoilers, of course, but the film seems to make it clear that this flick ends their journey.
However, just because Rites likely marks the Farmiga/Wilson swan song, many alternate paths to continue the franchise exist. As noted, we already got seven spinoff flicks: three under the Annabelle banner, two via the Nun narrative, 2016’s Wolves at the Door and 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona.
Rites obviously acts to set up two other possibilities, though. Thanks to the prologue, it introduces the concept that we’d receive prequels that focus on young Ed and Lorraine, here played by Orion Smith and Madison Lawlor.
In addition, the involvement of Judy – who possesses supernatural gifts ala her mother – presents stories that could follow her. This feels even more likely given how much time Rites spends with Judy and her boyfriend Tony (Ben Hardy). It doesn’t make much sense to set these two up so firmly and then never feature them again.
Whatever happens with the Conjuring franchise, Rites wraps the Farmiga/Wilson era on a tepid note. Too much of the movie feels like seed-planting for the possible future efforts I discussed, and too much comes across as the same old same old horror shtick.
I don’t expect great factual fidelity from the Conjuring movies, but Rites stretches matters thin. For instance, the actual Smurl “haunting” started in 1973!
As depicted here, the Warrens didn’t become involved until 1986. Boy, the Smurls must not’ve felt too perturbed by their alleged demonic guests if they stayed in their house for all that time.
Anyway, I get that the movie needed to tighten up those elements for dramatic purposes. However, it does seem odd that Rites so wildly alters Judy’s age, as the real Judy was born 18 years earlier than the film version.
I think this change exists mainly for the potential spinoff elements I mentioned. The Adventures of Young Judy and Tony probably seems more lucrative than a version focused on a couple in their 40s.
If Rites doesn’t mark the end of the Warren road, I hope future efforts manage more creativity. Rites tends to seem lazy, as it does nothing to stand out from prior flicks or make itself noteworthy.
At the risk of entering broken record territory, the emphasis on the family life of the Warrens becomes a major issue. The inclusion of Judy really does seem like nothing more than “seed-planting” for future films, as we don’t need her and Tony at all to tell the story at hand.
In a logical world, Rites would set up the Smurls, bring in the Warrens and then look at how the investigators deal with the threat. The last act does follow this trajectory.
However, the first two chapters ping-pong back and forth between the Smurls and the Warrens in a manner that doesn’t serve either one. Again, the Warren side tends to feel superfluous, so a version of Rites that spends maybe half the time with Ed and Lorraine would work better.
The problem mainly stems from the manner in which our Warren digressions utterly disrupt any tension that the film needs to build. When we skip from the creepy drama in the Smurl home to visit the personal lives of the Warrens, we lose dramatic momentum, especially since it becomes so difficult to care about Judy and Tony.
Even when the Warrens and Smurls unite, scares fail to ensue. Too much of Rites simply feels trite and predictable.
We find one cliché horror scene after another, none of which seem inventive or even vaguely frightening. Indeed, these become amusing because of their predictable nature.
Rites also telegraphs everything, and it sets up a mix of red herrings in cheap attempts to set the audience on edge. All of this leads to a slow and dull stab at horror.
Footnote: footage of the real Ed and Lorraine appears during the final credits, and a tag related to the mirror appears at the very end.
