Dark Nuns
review by Bobby Blakey
In 2015 director JANG Jae-hyun unleashed the exorcism horror film The Priests starring KIM Yoon-seok, GANG Dong-won, and PARK So-dam. The success of the film has spawned a new spin-off titled Dark Nuns starring SONG Hye-kyo, JEON Yeo-been, and LEE Jin-woo from director by Hyeok-jae Kwon that hopes to bring more of the same that made The Priests a success. Could this next chapter be as compelling as the original or will it be an exorcism not worth completing?
Dark Nuns follows Sister Giunia who discovers that Hee-joon is possessed by a terrifying entity and pleads with the church for help—only to be met with doubt and inaction. Convinced that time is running out, she joins forces with a rogue nun to perform a forbidden exorcism, one that could cost them both their lives. As the ritual spirals into chaos, dark secrets emerge, and Sister Giunia must confront the true nature of the evil she’s facing in this gripping supernatural thriller.
I am not a huge fan of the possessed horror genre but really ended up enjoying The Priests so was eager to see where this film took things. The idea of the nuns being on the case was compelling itself since they were frowned upon as being allowed to do this. That aspect of the film is where it is the strongest, but it’s not the focal point and why it never reaches its full potential.
Most of the film gets lost in trying to balance itself in the nun trying to get find assistance and approval to do this exorcism and the eventual exorcism itself. It never finds its full footing to connect in a way that pulls you in. It is just compelling enough to keep you interested for the most part but doesn’t offer anything that you haven’t seen numerous times before. The performance from the leads is strong and works tonally but doesn’t offer the same strength and
engagement as the priests from the first film.
While the story is interesting the pacing is so slow throughout its run time it is often a struggle to stick with it because not much but talking is happening. Even the exorcism itself is kind of a letdown which should have been the punch that brings it all home. There are some decent enough moments, but nothing that is memorable enough to stick with you. You want those terrifying visuals and chaotic moments to remind you of the horrors that they are facing, but I felt it pretty tame overall and not very effective.
For the most part the film is only connected to the original film through a mention of the previous characters but does have an ending that sets up bringing it together that gave me a glimmer of hope of something better that could come.
Decide for yourself and grab your copy of Dark Nuns along with The Priests available now on digital, Blu-ray and DVD exclusively at Amazon from Well Go USA