How Scary Is The Movie?

Since The Nun 2 has received an R-rating, it’s worth examining what this means for the film’s suitability for younger and more sensitive viewers. The Nun 2 is a direct sequel to 2018’s The Nun, which itself is a prequel/spin-off of The Conjuring 2. In The Nun 2, the returning character Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) will once again face off with Valak, this time at a boarding school in France in the year 1956.

The R-rating is known to be a fairly wide umbrella, and could be explained by multiple forms of mature content. Some R-rated films barely transgress past the tamer PG-13 rating, while others are filled with potentially disturbing content from start to finish. The horror genre itself is an equally wide spectrum, containing both tamer stories that can accommodate young or more sensitive viewers, as well as some harrowing and graphic works that should be approached with caution.

The Nun 2’s R-Rating Explained: Violence & Terror

In the United States, the Motion Picture Association has given The Nun 2 an R-rating, owing largely to “violent content and some terror.” The rating is not unexpected, considering every other film in the Conjuring universe has also been rated R. However, The Nun 2 may exceed the standard of violence and terror that the Conjuring universe has set. According to The Nun 2’s director, Michael Chaves (via CBR), the film is the “most violent” in the series so far.

The “terror” aspect of The Nun 2 also promises to be quite severe, even by the standards of The Conjuring movies. While violence is easy to identify and qualify, the concept of cinematic “terror” doesn’t necessarily cohere to any particular on-screen images, but to a general feeling of prolonged and intense threat that has the capacity to upset the viewer. In 2013, the original Conjuring even caused a stir when the bloodless film was given an R-rating for “terror” alone (via The Atlantic). According to Chaves, The Nun 2 “does get darker” than many of its conjuring predecessors, meaning it may be on par with the level of terror evoked in The Conjuring.

Is The Nun 2 Too Scary For Kids?

Given the Motion Picture Association’s R-rating and Michael Chaves’ comments about the film’s violence, it’s highly likely that the film will be too scary for kids. The extreme violence that Chaves describes would almost certainly prove disturbing for a young viewer, and the intense terror will be understandably upsetting. Considering the director’s comments that The Nun 2 is “more violent than what [test audiences] expected from a Conjuring movie,” it is worth bearing in mind that even a child who was able to view an earlier Conjuring universe film without problem may not be prepared for the severity of The Nun 2’s horror elements.

Source: CBR, The Atlantic