Created to tie the knot between all five previous horror movies in the Conjuring universe, The Nun was one of the most anticipated movies of September. Its infamous trailer was so scary, that it was deemed “unfit” as an advertisement on YouTube and subsequently taken off. It was to be the next box-office hit and despite meeting its quota, falls flat as merely another tiring horror movie.

The story follows three main characters – Father Burke, Sister Irene, and Frenchie – as they travel to Romania’s Carta Monastery under the instruction of the Vatican to investigate the suicide of Sister Victoria. Though under the impression the suicide was just that, the trio comes to understand that demonic forces in the form of a nun was the true cause. With the fate of the monastery and Catholic fate in their hands, the three confront the demon in hopes of ending its evil once and for all.

While it was interesting to realize the Easter Eggs and obtain a background for previous Conjuring movies that came after The Nun in terms of timeline, it was not enough to satiate in the category of horror, especially after its built up hysteria through trailers.

One of the movie’s largest faults was its lack of plot. The story circles around the same three characters getting frightened by the ghosts of nuns and even the backstory of the demon, which was supposed to be a revelation for the Conjuring Universe, didn’t deliver as promised. Rather than have the audience sitting on the edge of their seats during the movie, the movie offered little to no screams or even gasps.

In order to compensate for its missing plot, the director decided to make the executive decision of adding the cheapest, and oldest, horror movie trick in the book: jump scares. And at that, they were predictable, monotonous jump scares, that did nothing to save the audience’s interest.

As the fifth installment in the Conjuring universe, I would expect the movie to invest more time and effort in developing the narrative into one that is chilling and original, than spend its budget on lousy special-effects. It was a disappointment to watch The Nun, a movie that seemed to have much potential, not reach its expectation.