“The Conjuring: Last Rites” – A Fond, Flawed Farewell to Cinema’s Favorite Ghost-Hunters
(Released 5 Sept 2025 | Digital HD 7 Oct 2025 | Blu-ray 25 Nov 2025)
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Bottom line first
Warner Bros. has officially closed the ledger on Ed and Lorraine Warren, and the numbers are huge: 167.9 million domestic in four weeks—the biggest horror opening weekend on record . Yet critical spirits are divided. “Last Rites” currently hovers at 66 % on Rotten Tomatoes and 49/100 on Metacritic, a snapshot that mirrors fan reaction: grateful for one last séance with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, under-whelmed by the scares that made the franchise famous .
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What the film is actually about
Director Michael Chaves (who also helmed The Curse of La Llorona and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) bases the fourth installment on the real-life Smurl family haunting that terrorized a Pennsylvania duplex in the mid-1980s. The screenplay—credited to Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and franchise veteran David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick—finds the Warrens confronting an entity that has followed them since Annabelle Comes Home. Judy Warren (now college-age, played by Mia Tomlinson) and her boyfriend Tony Spera (Ben Hardy) are drawn into the case, teeing up a passing-of-the-torch moment the series may exploit in future spin-offs .
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Critical exorcism: the good, the generic, the blood-stained
- Emotional payoff is the element most critics praise. “Last Rites gets the Warren family dynamics right,” says Collider’s Jeff Ewing, noting that the first hour “patiently guides us toward a heartfelt finale” .
- Hardcore horror hounds call the film under-powered. “Jump scares are telegraphed, loud doors substitute for tension, and the last-act VFX look like a PS4 cut-scene,” writes Bloody-Disgusting .
- Casual fans lean more forgiving. IMDb user reviews average 6/10, with many calling it “a decent conclusion if you come for the characters, not the nightmares” .
Composer Benjamin Wallfisch replaces Joseph Bishara, trading the atonal stingers of earlier chapters for a lush, string-heavy elegy that underscores the film’s farewell vibe .
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Box-office blessing—and warning signs
Despite record-breaking receipts, legs look shaky. Second-weekend attendance dropped 58 %, echoing the pattern of The Nun II and suggesting front-loaded demand from the built-in fan base . Internationally the film opened day-and-date in 67 markets, but Asian grosses are soft compared with The Conjuring 2’s 2016 run, according to industry tracking site The Numbers.
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Home-haunting dates you need
- Digital HD (Apple TV, Amazon Vudu): 7 Oct 2025
- DVD / Blu-ray / 4K Ultra: 25 Nov 2025, just in time for Thanksgiving movie marathons
- Streaming (HBO Max): expected mid-Dec 2025, following Warner’s standard 70-day theatrical window
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Is this really “the last rites”?
Producer Peter Safran told Variety in July that “the main Conjuring storyline ends here,” but quickly added, “Judy’s story is only beginning.” Warner already trademarked “The Conjuring: Legacy” and “Warren Files” earlier this year, so don’t burn the holy water just yet .
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Should you watch?
- Devoted Warren-verse completists: Absolutely. Farmiga and Wilson’s chemistry still casts a spell, and the epilogue delivers closure the third film lacked.
- Horror adrenaline junkies: Expect more “drama with creepy interludes” than “edge-of-seat terror.” You may leave hungry for the raw scares of James Wan’s 2013 original.
- Date-night crowds: The jump scares are mild enough for scare-newbies, but the 135-minute runtime demands patience.
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Final thought
“The Conjuring: Last Rites” is less a heart-stopping horror classic than a sentimental love letter to two characters who turned ghost-hunting into a multibillion-dollar ministry. It bows out neither in triumph nor disgrace—more in quiet prayer that the next spin-off finds fresher demons to confront.
