The Conjuring: Last Rites

In 1981, the Smurl family of West Pittston, Pennsylvania, started noticing strange things. Odd smells. Misplaced objects. Then the voices came. Jack and Janet Smurl and their four daughters were living through what would become one of the most documented hauntings in American history, and the final case for Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Directed by Michael Chaves, who helmed The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, this fourth mainline entry brings Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga back as the weary paranormal investigators. They're joined by Mia Tomlinson as their now-adult daughter Judy, who inherited her mother's psychic sensitivity, and Ben Hardy as Tony Spera, Ed's skeptical son-in-law. The script went through 14 drafts over three years, with James Wan personally rewriting the third act to give the Warrens a more emotionally resonant conclusion.

Shot over 18 consecutive nights for its climactic exorcism sequence, the film uses practical effects by Tony Gardner, the designer of the original Annabelle doll, for its ancient entity called The Gatherer. With a budget of $55 million, it went on to gross nearly half a billion dollars worldwide, becoming the second-highest-grossing film in the franchise.[edit]

Jack and Janet Smurl live with their four young daughters in a modest duplex in rural Pennsylvania. What starts as minor annoyances, strange odors, a misplaced crucifix, quickly escalates into violent physical attacks. The children are targeted first. Heather, the youngest, starts speaking in a voice that isn't hers. The family discovers their home sits on land with a dark history: a former resident dabbled in demonic summoning, and a coven once performed rituals there.

Father Gordon, the local priest, recognizes the severity of the case and contacts Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens are semi-retired, exhausted from decades of confronting evil. Lorraine has a terrifying vision of the Smurl children in mortal danger, and they travel to Pennsylvania. Upon arrival, they find not one entity but multiple demonic presences working together, a coordinated attack unlike anything they've seen.

Judy Warren, now in her twenties, has developed her own psychic abilities and joins the investigation alongside Tony Spera, who brings a skeptical, scientific approach. The team documents evidence and uncovers a centuries-old curse tied to the land. The Smurls' youngest daughter, Heather, becomes the primary target of possession attempts. Lorraine's visions reveal a prophecy she had years earlier, a warning that their final case would demand the ultimate sacrifice.

As the haunting escalates, the Warrens face skepticism from local authorities and the media. They discover a hidden basement beneath the Smurls' home, sealed off for decades, containing artifacts and symbols from the coven's rituals. The entities now manifest physically, threatening not just the Smurls but the investigators themselves. The Warrens prepare for what they believe will be their most dangerous exorcism yet.[edit]