Three Fascinating Themes Hiding Under The Nun’s Gruesome, Gothic Horror

Last updated on: September 7, 2018 at 1:45 pm by Paul Asay

Three Fascinating Themes Hiding Under The Nun’s Gruesome, Gothic Horror 2018-09-07T13:45:26-06:00 Paul Asay

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Taissa Farmiga in The Nun, photo courtesy Warner Bros.

Ghoulish Girl Power

We’ve long heard that women are underrepresented in movies, and it’s true. Studies show that men hog starring roles, supporting characters and simply have speaking parts a lot more than women do in popular films. And when women do show up, they’re often sexualized—forced to wear revealing clothing or, at times, nothing at all (and far more frequently than men). When you consider that audiences for horror movies are overwhelmingly male, you’ve got a genre recipe for some serious cinematic sexism.

The Conjuring films upend those trends, and they have from its very beginning. The movies always focus on strong female characters, from its heroes to its villains to its not-so-helpless victims. In the Conjuring Universe, women run the show.

The Nun ramps up the franchise’s fearsome feminism yet another degree or two.

Let’s start with the titular nasty, a demon named Valak (played by a terrifying Bonnie Aarons). Sure, the demon’s not necessarily a woman (they tend to shape-shift a bit), but it certainly loves dressing up as one, parading around as a demonic nun—a corruption of one of the world’s holiest professions. Fittingly, she stalks the dark recesses of an ancient abbey, a place of black reputation and ancient evil, perhaps hoping in turn to corrupt the pious nuns around her.

The nuns who live in the abbey know all about that evil. That’s why they’re there, in fact. They’re essentially spiritual warriors, and for centuries they’ve used the power of prayer to keep that evil locked away, and they’ve sacrificed everything to perform this sacred duty. There are no men to save the day here—the only guy they lean on is Jesus Himself. And for ages, they’ve done their collective job remarkably well.

But now (in 1952), that evil’s beginning to leach out a bit. The movie’s story really begins when one of the nuns apparently commits suicide, and the Vatican sends Father Anthony Burke (Demián Bichir) and a novitiate named Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) to investigate. (A delivery guy named Frenchie, played by Jonas Bloquet, tags along, too.)

At first, it would seem that Burke’s our film’s hero. He’s the traditional, seasoned exorcist with a bag full of holy water and crosses at his disposal. Or you could put your money on Frenchie, a young, swaggering youth who certainly looks the part, ready with both gun and quip.

Yes, both these men play important roles and engage in their fair share of derring-do. But Sister Irene is the movie’s true hero. Her piety and courage protects and saves the men she’s working with, and she poses the most serious challenge to the evil Nun’s designs. Alas, that makes her, potentially, Valak’s greatest prize, too. After all, the the demon is known as “the Defiler,” and it’d like nothing better than to corrupt this virginal, brave bride of Christ.

Even the movie’s ever-present religious iconography points to its sense of feminism, in a way. When Irene was a child, she had a series of visions that always ended with the same thought: “Mary points the way.” And, in a critical moment, a statue of Mary does just that.

Go back Continue Reading

Previous Post

September 6, 2018

Featurette: Fear and Faith in The Nun

Next Post

September 12, 2018 Mandy is the Craziest Movie of the Year. (Naturally, It Stars Nic Cage)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books celebrities Editor's Choice games movies music news sports superheroes television Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 December 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 September 2023 March 2023 February 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 December 2021 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What happened to Jesus 40 days after His resurrection?

Select your answer to see how you score.

He performed one last miracle He visited the temple He went back into hiding He ascended into heaven

Books by This Author Books by Paul Asay

See All Titles »