The Nun II (2023)-- Ending Explained with Spoilers

 

Plot: Four years after the events from the first movie, Sister Irene must once again battle the demon Valak. 

Is watching a horror movie any fun when you know the villain is not going to be defeated? Would you still watch the movie knowing that the antagonist will end up finding a way back to make the hero’s life miserable over and over again just because the movies have become part of a successful franchise? 

Well, I suppose it depends on the content of the movie. 

The Nun II is part of the successful THE CONJURING franchise, and just like the other movies, it too was an instant success at the box office. 

The Nun II is actually a little better than the first part in terms of story and attempts to scare the audience. While the first part was essential to setting up Valak’s story, the second part gives a glimpse into Valak’s intentions. 

The demon was summoned through a rift during the Dark Ages by a duke who was killed by Christian soldiers who then sealed the rift with Christ’s blood. The rift was then opened during the World War 2 bombings which was when Valak escaped. 

Now we know that in 1976 Lorraine Warren had banished Valak to hell. Since the events of  The Nun took place in 1952, and the sequel takes place in 1956, it is safe to assume that Valak is still not going to be defeated. 

But as mentioned before, The Nun II is definitely an improvement over its predecessor and does get imaginative with its jumps scares even though they are not necessarily as effective. 

THE NUN II Movie Plot 

The year is 1956 and in France, a young boy called Jacques, arrives at the church to help Father Noiret. While he is in the rooms, we see a painting of St. Lucy. Remember that painting, it is a huge hint of what is about to come later in the movie. 

After the sermon, Jacques is placing a jar of wine on top of the cupboard when he hears a sound. He initially decides to play football with whoever is in the shadows but then freaks out when the wine jar bursts. He complains to the Father who demands to know who is trespassing. Vapor rises and we see our first glimpse of the Nun. In the next instant, the poor Father is hoisted up and lit on fire while Jacques is forever traumatized by this incident. 

We then see Sister Irene along with the other Sisters in Italy. A truck is stuck and Sister Irene comes up with a plan to use planks. The idea works and the sisters are dropped off to the convent. 

Once there Reverend Mother complains about a Sister who refuses to confess because she believes she has nothing to confess, and for that alone she should be confessing. Sister Irene laughs and tells her that she will take care of it all. 

The Sister in question is Sister Debra who likes to smoke and sketch. She is from Mississippi and tells Irene about how her house was burned down and her brothers were sent to the army to serve the country while her father sent her here to serve God. Irene warms up to her and shares her story of her father who thought she was weird but resembled her mother. Irene lies about not remembering her mother and supposedly this arc will be used later in the movie. 

During potato peeling time, the other nuns gather and tell stories. One of them tells the story of what happened in The Nun. But she manages to get one fact wrong about the nameless nun who defeated a demon that disguised itself as something blasphemous to challenge people’s faith. Irene is listening to all of it and gets nervous when the other nun claims that the sister who helped defeat the demon, went mad and had to be locked up in an asylum. 

Somewhere in France, Maurice is working at a boarding school for girls as a handyman and gardener. He’s friends with Kate, a teacher, and her daughter Sophie who shares a good rapport with him. We see a couple of mean girls collect insects and let them run in the principal’s room. 

Later, Sophie wants to give Maurice a friendship bracelet but the mean girl from before teases her for having an older boyfriend. While Sophie is embarrassed, Maurice stands up for her and steals back the bracelet. 

Later, we see a delivery person making a delivery. He enters a room and sees Maurice having fits in front of a mirror. When the boy asks what’s going on, the Nun creeps out from behind a wall, gives chase and snaps the poor delivery person’s neck. 

It’s time for yet another jumpscare and horror trope: the dream. 

Irene is sleeping when she is informed in that she has a guest. Lights flicker, she sees Maurice and he begs her for help before turning into a monster. 

The next morning she has a visitor and Irene wonders if her nightmares are coming true. But nope. It’s the Cardinal who informs her of the murders taking place around. He suspects the demon from the first movie is still alive. Irene immediately says nope and tells them to contact Father Burke but as it turns out, the actor wasn’t asked to be part of the sequel and so his character apparently dies of cholera off screen. Or maybe Valak somehow is responsible for giving him cholera and killed him as revenge. 

Anyway, Irene is told that she is the only one who can send the demon back to hell since she has done it once before. And so off she goes in a train and is joined by Debra who tells her that her mother died in a fire and was a church to her. She finds it hard to believe in miracles which is why Irene discourages her from coming along. But Debra tells her that she needs her and that reason is enough. 

At school, Maurice is going about his normal day, fixing stuck doors and saving Sophie from a mean prank. The mean prank consists of the girls convincing Sophie they are apologetic and want to be friends, then luring her into a game of Defy The Devil which is played by staring at a mosaic of a goat, wait for the sunlight to reach its eyes and turn it red, then keep staring. The moment you look away, the goat comes alive and attacks. Sophie doesn’t see the goat come to life but she does get her first glimpse of the Nun. 

It’s a jump scare so do get ready for it. 

Sophie is rattled when she comes out and refuses to tell Maurice what happened in the locked room. 

Irene and Debra reach the church where Father Noiret was killed. Irene has a vision of a child handing her the rosary. The nun over there tells them that Jacques’ mother doesn’t want him talking about the incident but that they can approach him while he’s playing football with his friends. The nun also tells them that on the night the Father died, they had a handyman called Frenchie but he abruptly left. Irene remembers giving him tomato seeds in their last meeting and wonders if he used them to become a farmer or if her gift had gone to waste. 

Frenchie is Maurice and she is now concerned for his well-being. She tells Debra a recap of the climax of the first movie and believes that the demon must have escaped by possessing Maurice which is why these killings are happening once again. 

Maurice is seen tending to his tomato plant so maybe the seeds didn’t go to waste after all. Kate comes to thank him for helping Sophie and reveals that the headmistress, the Madame, keeps the chapel locked up because her son died in there during the bombings. 

Sophie is spying on Maurice and when Kate leaves him, sees Maurice looking up at the sky and acting weird. She then thinks her mother is calling for her, and goes upstairs to find the nun waiting for her at the end of the corridor. While the demon abruptly killed everyone it encounters, it seems to be playing with Sophie instead. 

She spooks Sophie as she comes down the stairs and then becomes chipped paint when Kate opens the door to let the light in. 

Irene finds Jacques playing football on the streets but he doesn’t want to speak to her and runs away. She gives him chase, only to end up at an alley and finding a collage of the Nun who gives her a vision of Saint Lucy who lost her eyes. 

At the boarding school, the Madame is taking her nightly rounds when she sees Maurice standing in the dark. He claims to have no idea what he is doing here and leaves. 

The Madame enters the locked chapel and sees her dead son. But the Nun is standing right behind him. She is killed right away. 

Irene finally wakes up after falling unconscious. She tells Debra of her vision and that the Nun is seeking a relic and using Maurice to find it. Debra hands her a parcel Jacques has left. It is Father Noiret’s rosary and it has a symbol that Irene has seen before but can’t place. 

In the morning, Kate finds the Madame’s body. Sophie is scared and devastated and goes into hiding. Maurice manages to bring her back to her mother.

Irene heads to check out the Catholic Archives and finds out that the victims so far may be  St. Lucy’s descendants. She finally understands that the demon is after the eyes. 

St. Lucy’s family buried the eyes in a monastery, that was then sold to a winery which is now, you guessed it, the boarding school. So basically the demon is using Maurice, the handyman, to find the eyes. 

Irene later tells Debra that she does remember her mother and that she was deeply religious to the point she thought God spoke directly to her and gave her visions, just like Irene gets. 

Her father didn’t believe her which is why Irene’s mother was taken away to the asylum. The puzzle pieces seem to be coming together to reveal the ultimate twist, isn’t it?

On the other side, Maurice is having a nice time dancing with Sophie and Kate at their house. But his joy doesn’t last too long before he collapses. Kate notices an upside down cross forming behind Maurice’s neck and panics. 

The Nun’s portrait comes up on the wall and she breaks through it to make Sophie shriek. Maurice takes Kate and Sophie and makes a run for it and bumps into Irene who tells him to get away from them. 

She then tells him that the demon is inside of him and he breaksdown. In the next instant, his body contorts and he turns into a demon. After being pushed around and struck, Irene manages to use Father Noiret’s rosary and command the demon to let Maurice go. Debra doesn’t wait for results and hits Maurice on the back of his head. 

Irene and Debra employs Kate and Sophie’s help. Maurice was heading towards the chapel so they think that is where the demon wanted him to go. Now that Maurice is safely chained up, they head to the chapel. They theorize that the goat’s eye, when turned red, can lead them to the spot where the relic is hidden. 

Debra goes outside and shines a light through the mosaic and the red light leads Irene to a spot on the ground. While they are digging, Maurice wakes up and senses something is wrong. He manages to escape his binds. Sophie notices the goat on the glass has disappeared. 

Meanwhile, the other girls in the school finally get up and hear noises. So far, they were unaware of all the commotion going on. 

Irene finds the box and opens it to find St. Lucy’s eyes.

Downstairs, the missing goat has taken on a ghastly shape and chases the other girls around. Debra manages to hide them in a room but they are flung about by some really powerful wind. 

Maurice comes to Irene and uses wind power to get rid of Kate before applying wrestling moves on Irene. Sophie takes the box and runs away with it. 

The girls in the locked room try to escape through a vent only for a dead Madame to grab the meanest one and then vomit cockroaches on her, the very ones the mean girl had sent to her room. Apparently the ghost wanted payback for that prank. 

THE NUN II Ending Explained

Sophie hides in her secret spot but she forgot that it really isn’t a secret from Maurice who easily finds her and screams at her face. The relic glows and pushes him back. 

Maurice continues to pursue Sophie and there’s a long scene of them hanging about on the ramparts and ledges, falling and then not falling. 

Eventually Sophie and Irene find each other. Sophie gives her the box which Irene uses against Maurice. He collapses and is assumed dead. Irene is mourning him when he wakes up and grabs the box, absorbing its power. 

Things become chaotic as the Nun rises and strangles Debra. Sophie is being chased by a zombie-like Maurice. Kate is trying to protect the girls but the goat creature is intent on breaking down every door they get behind. 

The Nun hoists Irene up in the air and starts to burn her but…Irene doesn’t. Turns out she is one of the descendants of St. Lucy. Her mother, who could hear voices, was actually hearing voices too! 

The Nun, who was grinning all this time, is now furious. She flings about everyone and manages to break some wine barrels from the time the boarding school used to be a winery. Such a coincidence that this is exactly what Sister Irene and Sister Debra needed. 

They both pray and the wine bursts and splatters all over Maurice and the Nun. They both shriek in defeat. The Nun burns away while Debra and Irene tend to a crying Maurice. 

Elsewhere, the demonic goat has stopped his attacks as well. 

Maurice’s possesion is broken and he thanks Irene. The first thing he does is check on his tomato plants. Sophie and Kate reunite who in turn go to Maurice. They walk hand in hand. It’s all nice and happy now. 

Except Sister Irene looks on worriedly at Maurice. 

In the after credits scene, we see Ed and Lorraine Warren getting a phone call. It’s from Father Gordon who wants their help. 

The scene is rumored to be hinting at the fourth Conjuring movie called, THE CONJURING: LAST RITES. 

The movie ends. 

The Nun II perfectly fits into the Conjuring franchise and does set up future movies. But will there be a direct sequel to The Nun II? Probably. It’s still the 1950s and there is still much to be told about how Maurice got possessed once more and when he met with the Warrens. 

Considering Lorraine possesses the ‘sight’ too, chances are that she either used to be Sister Irene, or is a descendant from St. Lucy too. 

It will be interesting to keep an eye on this franchise and see how each story unfolds. 

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