“The Conjuring: Last Rites”, which another entry of the Conjuring franchise, delivers more or less than what you can expect from it. While there is nothing particularly new or surprising here, the movie gives us a fair share of shock and awe, and I was not quite bored even while recognizing several weak aspects including its rather plodding narrative pacing.

During the first act, the movie pays considerable attention to the personal life of Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) and her husband Ed (Patrick Wilson). As many of you remember, Lorraine is a gifted clairvoyant and medium while Ed is a professed demonologist, and the opening part of the film shows us how their daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) got involved with one of her parents’ early cases at the time of her birth.

Probably because of that, Judy became quite sensitive to those supernatural stuffs just like her mother, so Lorraine and Ed tried to protect their daughter as much as possible during next several years. However, Judy often cannot help but feel more of something disturbing around the time when she is going to marry her ex-policeman boyfriend Tony (Ben Hardy), and her mother naturally comes to sense that even though Judy does not tell a lot to her mother.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to a certain middle class family living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who soon find themselves under the influence of something sinister not long after one of the daughters in the family received a big old mirror as her birthday gift. Not so surprisingly, that big old mirror is the one associated with that early case of Lorraine and Ed, and whatever inside it begins to haunt and then terrorize the family in one way or another.

It does not take much time for the family to realize that they have a really serious supernatural problem, and there subsequently comes a priest who is incidentally a close friend of Lorraine and Ed. When the priest requests some help from Lorraine and Ed, Ed declines mainly because 1) he and his wife want to have a less uneventful life now and 2) he is now having a serious medical problem which can be fatal when he and his wife confront those demonic forces out there again.

Of course, it goes without saying that Lorraine and Ed eventually get involved with that haunted family, but the movie does not hurry itself as trying more character development in Lorraine and Ed’s personal life. While Lorraine is more concerned about whatever is troubling her daughter, Ed shows more of his profession to his future son-in-law, and it seems possible that Tony and Judy will continue what Lorraine and Ed have worked on for many years.

Around the middle point of the story, the movie throws more shock and awe as expected, and there are several nice moments including the one involved with the close examination of a family video clip. In the end, there comes a point where Lorraine and Ed must come forward to confront their old opponent, and the mood certainly becomes a lot more intense than before.

Mainly because I heard a lot about that how untrustworthy Mr. and Mrs. Warren were in real life, I could not help observe the film with a considerable amount of skepticism as I did while watching many other Conjuring franchise flicks, but I was rather amused by how the movie is quite serious about their drama whenever it is not on its shock and awe mode. It is often sincere in the depiction of Lorraine and Ed’s partnership/relationship along the story, and it also handles their faith and belief with some respect and care.

Needless to say, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are dependable as before. While they easily slip into their familiar respective roles right from the start, they remain engaging thanks to the effortless acting chemistry between them, and you can instantly sense the strong emotional bond between their characters. Farmiga, who has steadily advanced since her notable supporting role in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” (2006), fills her role with genuine warmth and sensitivity, and Wilson, who has also been one of the most interesting performers working in Hollywood just like Farmiga, exudes authentic decency as deftly complementing his co-star.

However, the movie feels deficient in case of its supporting characters surrounding them. Although Mia Tomlinson and Ben Hardy are mostly solid, their characters are less engaging in comparison, though there will probably be more character development for them in the possible sequels to follow. In case of the haunted family in the story, they simply get disturbed and scared throughout the film without receiving much character development on the whole, and they are even conveniently put aside from the center during the expected climactic sequence.

In conclusion, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” is at least better than its predecessor “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” (2021), which is also directed by director Michael Chaves. Because it is not better than “The Conjuring” (2013) and I gave that film 2.5 stars, I give “The Conjuring: Last Rites” the same star rating, but you will probably not be disappointed if you steadily follow the Conjuring franchise, and that is all I can say for now.