The Nun

Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga – American Horror Story) was committed to a convent by her family, when the stain of her illegitimacy was too much for her mother to bear. Now close to taking her vows as a nun, she expects her life to be simple, filled with selflessness and service to God. However, when she was young she had a series of visions about what appears to be the spirit of a nun. The Vatican think that these may be connected to a nun’s suicide in an isolated convent in Romania, and so they send her, accompanied by a priest, to investigate. But she has no idea of the powers that she’s facing, or the danger she’s about to be in…

Horror fans will recognise that this is none other than the malevolent and powerful demon Valak, from The Conjuring 2! For those who enjoyed that film, this prequel is written by its director, James Wan.

Atmosphere and tension are built up relentlessly throughout this film, to almost intolerable levels. If you’ve seen the trailer for this film, you’ll no doubt have been caught out by the impressively staged jump-scare, but that is just one of plenty! (When you realise that this film uses almost no CGI, this seems even more impressive…)

Gail Marshall