The thing about film franchise finales is that they can either become a film series’ climactic finish or just another plain entry.

As with The Conjuring universe’s final entry (of phase one — they’re going to make more movies, apparently), Last Rites, the film leaned towards the latter.

It wasn’t a total letdown. Arguably, there were gripping scenes, particularly throughout the final act.

But still, it lacked the punch expected of a grand finale, given how it has been marketed (remember, it even had the slogan “Prepare for the end” all over its promotional materials).

Some spoilers ahead! 

A potent central conflict was there but…

Still: Warner Bros. Pictures

The supernatural case The Conjuring: Last Rites focused on the real-life alleged haunting of the Smurl family.

For a brief background, the Smurls complained of unnatural disturbances. These included noises, temperature drops, their daughters being pushed by this entity down a flight of stairs, and even more disturbing claims.

Some of these were seen throughout the film, albeit with some tweaks. Janet Smurl was the one thrown off the stairs. Their pet dog was also thrown off a wall while their daughter Dawn vomited blood.

In another scene, Heather was about to blow out her birthday cake candles but “someone” else pre-emptied it. Jack Smurl was also lifted off of his bed in another scene.

In real life, the Smurls claimed these occurrences happened for years and years. Then they finally sought the help of the Warrens in 1986.

The callbacks were nice, but the film could have easily built upon such central conflict, given how intense this demon causing such disturbances sounded. In a vacuum, these were all spine-tingling in the movie.

And as portrayed, the demon easily burned a crucifix and mind-controlled Father Gordon into committing suicide. Pardon the use of MCU terms, but this entity was easily an Avengers-level threat.

However, instead of a chilling story and flowed from start to finish, we kind of got a mediocre finale to a film series that has spanned 12 years.

Execution was lackluster

What was clear throughout the film is that the lack of execution was evident. Even if this was based on a true story, the filmmakers still had the room to alter parts here and there. Infusing more elements or go with a certain direction could have made the entire story more cinematic.

As with previous films, Last Rites used a conduit object to present the demon, in the form of an antique mirror with carved figures. This was shown right from the get-go, when a pregnant Lorraine Warren in the 1960s had to investigate it.

Still: Warner Bros. Pictures

This mirror would find its way back into the Warrens’ lives several years later when it was revealed to have been in the Smurls’ home.

Lorraine would reveal later during the film’s final phase that the demon using the mirror was also controlling three more spirits.

I would have personally loved for a backstory for these three characters, even if it was just brief. The scary farmer, in particular, was reduced to just a cameo, chasing Lorraine at the basement of the Smurls’ residence.

As it was mentioned that there was an affair, perhaps having these spirits call for help by manifesting themselves throughout the film would have added another layer to the central conflict.

Still: Warner Bros. Pictures

Questionable pacing, unnecessary runtime

Given the poor execution, we got a pacing that was clearly off throughout a film that was two hours and 15 minutes long.

We got a bunch of random jump scares instead, from the toy doll at the Smurls’ home to another during the scene when Tony Spera, Judy Warren’s would be husband, was driving.

I would have loved to have seen more desperation from the Smurls from the get-go — that they had sought for help with more sense of urgency.

As scary as they were, the disturbances felt randomly presented. They didn’t pack a punch. Again, that’s given how intense this demon actually was.

Too much human aspect?

Still: Warner Bros. Pictures

Interspersed throughout were the more human aspects of the Warrens. It was established that the Warrens didn’t want to take any more cases as they were focused on retirement.

There was Ed Warren’s birthday celebration, along with the introduction of ex-policeman Tony Spera as Judy’s future fiancé.

These scenes showed Ed and Lorraine simply as supportive parents, instead of demonologists. There were also the couple’s tour, giving out lectures to schools.

However, these did contribute to a longer runtime. Such parts were also conversation-heavy, and arguably, could have been reduced or condensed to give way for the central conflict.

To be fair, we did get a vibe that the demon was not going to stop at any cost in letting the Warrens live their peaceful post-paranormal investigation lives, given the eventual marriage of their daughter Judy.

It just should have been presented more convincingly that this was what the demon was really after, and not just wreaking havoc inside the Smurls’ West Pittston, Pennsylvania home.

Or perhaps, Vera Farmiga’s Lorraine, given her clairvoyance, could have warned the newly-engaged couple of the danger that is about to come. That’s since the demon wouldn’t let them enjoy a happy ending.

Defying the ‘last rites’

In reality, it’s quite clear that the Warrens kept their daughter Judy away from their professional endeavors. Perhaps, it’s this premise that the filmmakers tried to be faithful to.

That’s because throughout the movie, you could only see a Judy that was constantly scared of the unknown. She kept chanting the locket-in-the-pocket lullaby to avoid seeing things.

Even the fictional Lorraine would tell her daughter she would never be ready for what her parents have been doing for decades.

Make no mistake, there were parts of the movie wherein Judy was insistent and showed the will to help her parents.

If there was just room for more creativity, it would have made sense for a scene involving Judy head-on against the demon.

The fact that Judy was supposed to be stillborn yet managed to survived implied she had some sort of powers, or that she was chosen. Besides, it was the movie’s title to begin with.

More buildup perhaps

Still: Warner Bros. Pictures

Or, it should have been shown in greater volume that the demon was constantly going after Judy. That’s to get even with the Warrens but for Judy, it was to defy the “last rites”.

This would have presented some sort of dilemma as well and giving the Warrens the predicament to balance investigating what’s going on with the Smurls with trying to protect their only child.

Also mentioned was Ed’s heart attack risk. The demon did target this vulnerability too through a possessed Judy briefly.

To the final act’s credit, it was obvious that Judy still was the weakest link, and the demon pounced on this. That checks out with the paranormal logic established in the film series universe and even in reality.

Eventually, all three Warrens beat the demonic mirror together, with Lorraine telling Judy to stop running away from the situation.

It’s not that there wasn’t a buildup as we saw problems from the Warrens’ dinner to Judy trying out a wedding dress at the boutique.

But Lorraine kept being vague about “something wrong/isn’t right” when we knew the mirror found a way back into their lives. I find it hard to believe she didn’t know beforehand that it has always been about the demon going after Judy.

More of a tribute

Still: Warner Bros. Pictures

It’s pretty obvious that the end was a symbolic passing of the torch to Judy. And in real life, she did put up her own paranormal agency together with Tony.

So was Ed tossing the keys to Tony during one of the final scenes in the artifact room.

You can understand that the film was also a tribute in a way. Hence, there was the iconic Annabelle doll, though it arguably was a useless cameo.

Naturally, the wedding scene also paved the way for some of previous characters to appear in celebration of the entire film series.

Quite incoherent for a finale

But ultimately, as a standalone film, The Conjuring: Last Rites was incoherent. As I’ve kept mentioning throughout this article, it lacked what we expected for a grand finale.

That’s given everything already established in The Conjuring universe with respect to paranormal logic.

Should you watch it? Just to pull up our glorious managing editor’s Watch Scale again:

• Watch ASAP
• Watch at your convenience
• Wait for crowd/ hype to trickle down
• Wait on streaming
• Skip

The Conjuring: Last Rites is between the second and third bullet points. It wasn’t totally boring but also underwhelmed for what is supposedly a slam-banging finale.

Make no mistake, the scare factor was constantly there. You know, if you’re specifically looking for an ample dose of fright with companions inside a theater.