The Nun 2 was supposed to give us answers that tie into the larger Conjuring universe, but the movie itself fails to impress and is quite forgettable. See our full review to know why. Before we get into the film itself, yes, there’s a mid-credit scene in The Nun 2, and you should probably stick around to see it if you’re a big fan of the Conjuring universe. The 2023 film is a direct sequel to the first part, which was released in 2018. Following the harrowing events of the first film, Sister Irene has stepped away from the limelight and is in hiding, while Father Burke has been made a bishop. On the other hand, one can assume Frenchie is living his dream as a tomato farmer somewhere in Eastern Europe. But there are some nasty events taking place across the region, leaving the Vatican no choice but to call upon Irene once again to face off against the same evil.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens in the Film?
In Tarascon, France, in 1956, a priest and a young boy go about their daily chores in a little church. Jacques is the boy’s name, and while he’s putting the wine away for the day, he sees his ball in the wrong spot. With the wine occupying his hands, Jacques uses his feet to put the ball away. He shelves the wine, and when he turns around, the ball is right in front of him. Jacques kicks it back into place, but to his horror, it comes right back to him. The boy runs up to the priest and tells him there’s someone in there. As they stand in front of the altar, the priest yells for whoever is in the building. Things take a nasty turn quickly, and the priest is raised in the air and immolated as Jacques watches, holding onto the priest’s rosary. In the meantime, Frenchie’s silhouette steps away from the Church, with the nun’s shadow dwindling behind him as if to become one with him.
Somewhere in Italy, Irene is asked to speak to a young nun named Debra. She’s decided that she doesn’t need to go to confession, and Irene is tasked with helping her find her way back to God. Debra tells Irene she’s only there because her father thought it was appropriate for her to be a servant of God when her brothers were servants of the country. Debra has gone through too much in her young life to believe in miracles and her faith has been shaken. Elsewhere in a boarding school, Frenchie has made friends with a young girl named Sophie. So much so that Sophie wants to give him a friendship bracelet, but she gets made fun of by the other girls. When the headmistress walks in on the mess, Frenchie quickly takes back the bracelet from one of the girls who was teasing Sophie. He shows it to her before sending her off to class, and she puts it on. Sophie is the daughter of Kate, a teacher at the school. Kate and Frenchie seem quite close, too, and you could see them becoming a happy little family sometime in the future.
Irene gets a vision of Frenchie asking her to help him, and the next day, the Pope comes to see Irene and tells her that there have been some awful things happening across Europe and she needs to help the Church once again. Irene asks if Father Burke could be of any help, and to her shock, she’s told he died from cholera. Irene has no choice but to step onto the ledge and take the leap, but she’s terrified of the consequences. She’s still unable to get over her experience from last time, and now she has to face the same entity all over again. The last place the nun left her mark was in Tarascon. Irene makes her way there, and Debra follows her without permission. On the train, Irene tells Debra that she’s not ready to face such evil when her faith isn’t even at its strongest. Debra insists that she’s needed; besides, she really needs to witness a miracle to truly believe in God.
Irene has a vision where she follows Jacques into an alley and ends up getting choked by the nun, showing her that she’s back. They investigate the Church, and Debra has a word with Jacques. The rosary has a little emblem on it that matches one of the other victims from the many horrendous acts that have been taking place recently. Irene is quick to join the dots and realize that Frenchie is the one who is possessed. She has a flashback to the time she left Frenchie to find his own way. She even gave him tomato seeds so he could start his own tomato farm in Hungary.
At the same time, in the boarding school, some of the girls bully Sophie and lock her up in the abandoned chapel of the school. The headmistress doesn’t let anybody go there, but the girls take Sophie to a window with a goat on the mosaic. They tell her to look at it directly and that if she turns away, the devil will appear as a ferocious goat and haunt her. Afraid, Sophie does what she’s told, and the sun comes down to a position that makes the eye of the goat in the window shine red. It really looks like it’s watching you. Suddenly, Sophie realizes she’s alone and tries to escape. She’s locked in by the girls, and a covered statue of Mother Mary falls and shatters in front of her. Just then, Frenchie saves her, and Kate comes to get her for class.
Irene has somebody to help her at the Palais des Papes to figure out more about the emblem, so they make their way there. The librarian tells Irene that the demon they’re hunting used to be an angel rejected by God.
Who is St. Lucy?
Irene has a vision of a man in a red robe who stabs a little girl in the eyes. The girl then presents her eyes to Irene in a circular box. The librarian tells Irene that St. Lucy’s family took her eyes and scattered after she was killed by pagans. Her eyes had been gouged out because, even when she was set on fire, she wouldn’t die. The emblem on the rosary is the family crest of St. Lucy, and the librarian says that the nun is after the descendants of St. Lucy because she wants the eyes. The last time the eyes were found, they were with a monk named Jean-Paul Redar at a monastery, which is, of course, a boarding school now.
Special ‘Conjuring‘ trivia: The descendants of St. Lucy have visions, which is why both Irene and Lorraine have visions, which means that they’re kind of related!
Irene and Debra rush to the school and find Frenchie running with Kate and Sophie. Irene tells him to get away from the girls because he’s the one who’s been possessed. Frenchie is devastated by the realization. The nun takes over, and Irene follows him into the chapel. Irene and Debra try to stop him from entering, and finally, Debra whacks him on the head with a piece of wood to knock him unconscious. They tie him up with chains and cover his face, leaving him outside. Inside, Sophie shows Irene the game the kids play, and Debra flashes a light from the outside to make it look like the sun is in position for the eye to glow. The flash helps point them in the direction of where the eyes have been buried. Kate and Irene dig it up when Debra hears commotion on the other side. When she goes to investigate, she sees a scared young girl. The girl says there’s someone up the stairs, and when Debra has a look, it’s the Devil!
Debra saves the girls from the goat but gets separated from Irene, Kate, and Sophie. Irene finds the same round box from her vision and gets her hands on the eyes. Frenchie escapes and gets to Irene, grabbing her by the neck. Kate makes her way to find the other girls, and Sophie runs off with the eyes in her own hand. She has a hiding spot, and she takes it there in the bell tower. Frenchie follows her there, and interestingly, the eyes glow in her hand, meaning that she, too, has powers. After fighting off the goat, Debra thinks she’s sent the girls to a safe spot. She finds Irene and helps her up. On the other hand, Kate finds the girls, but one of them gets terribly injured as the goat’s horn rams into the door that they’re trying to hold shut.
Does Irene defeat the nun?
Frenchie wreaks havoc in the bell tower, breaking the bell and causing the building to tremble. Sophie finds herself on a ledge but saves herself after Frenchie falls to the ground, trying to catch her. She rushes back to Irene with the eyes. Irene tries to use her powers on Frenchie, and they think he is dead. When Irene tries to check on him, Frenchie wakes up and grabs the box. He imbibes the power of the eyes, giving the demon its ultimate weapon. The demon is so powerful that Irene can’t do anything against it. She gets lifted in the air, and she starts burning from the bottom up, but Irene, who is a descendant of St. Lucy, will not burn, and that’s when we see Lorraine’s eyes flash on the screen, too.
Irene uses her love for her mother, and the strength passed down to her to save herself. Frenchie tries to attack Sophie, and Irene and Debra get separated from them by stakes coming out of the ground. Just when they think it’s all over, Irene realizes that the wine can be turned into the blood of Christ, and she asks Debra to pray with her. The school was once a winery, and now some of the wine is spilling over around them.
During The Nun 2‘s ending, Debra and Irene say the magic words to make the wine Christ’s blood, and there’s red everywhere. The demon is finally banished once again, and everyone else is safe. We suppose Frenchie will live a normal life with Kate and Sophie, as he’d dreamed of, and we see the beautiful tomatoes in the school garden. Irene has restored Debra’s faith, and she did witness a miracle when Irene didn’t burn to death. As always, love and togetherness have the highest power of all. Debra believes because Irene showed her the way, and together, they were able to pray hard enough to make the wine the blood of Christ.
Mid-Credit scene
The Warrens are going about their lives when they get a call from Father Gordon. The loop is finally complete, as we know that Gordon is Warren’s church contact. On the other hand, there’s a scene within the film when Sophie opens a door and sees the nun in Warren’s house. We’re not quite sure why she can see inside Warren’s house. The scene is exactly the same as in The Conjuring 2 when Judy sees the nun in one of Lorraine’s visions leading up to Lorraine finding out his name. It seems to be another hint that Sophie, too, is like Irene and Lorraine —she may be St. Lucy’s descendant.
