‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ Is a Haunting Farewell to Ed & Lorraine

By Danial Martinus • 09 May 2025 in Movies & TV

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If you’ve been riding the Conjuring train since the Perron family’s haunted farmhouse back in 2013, then the teaser for The Conjuring: Last Rites probably hit you right in the gut.

Not because it’s packed with jump scares, but because this feels like the end—for real this time. One final ride with Ed and Lorraine Warren; one last battle against darkness.

What the teaser tells us

Set in the mid-80s, after the Warrens have supposedly retired, the teaser leans hard into the idea of unfinished business.

The case? The Smurl family hauntings. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because it was one of the (real-life) Warrens’ more controversial investigations—claims of poltergeist activity, demonic scratches, and even sexual assaults by a spirit. Basically all the fixings for a front-page ’80s tabloid piece.

We see snippets of Judy Warren (played by Mia Tomlinson) and her boyfriend Tony Spera (Ben Hardy), now grown and pulled into the madness. Judy’s no stranger to the supernatural, having grown up literally surrounded by cursed relics.

It’s a smart move to centre this story not just on Ed and Lorraine, but on the legacy they leave behind, being their daughter. The trailer subtly suggests the past is catching up with them—and their family.

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are, once again, the heart of it all. They’ve been the emotional glue holding this franchise together. They are—in this writer’s humble opinion—the greatest couple in cinema.

Whether it was facing Bathsheba, Valak, or the demonic influence in the Arne Cheyenne Johnson case, it’s always been about their faith—in God, yes, but mostly in each other.

And that’s what James Wan, who started this whole thing, wanted to protect.

“The beating heart of this franchise is Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson playing Ed and Lorraine,” he said. “The family dynamic, the faith the characters have, and the faith that they have in each other are really the things that drive this particular franchise.”

According to Farmiga herself, this movie is “different from the others.” Instead of focusing solely on a haunted house or possessed artefact, she says, “this one is about reckoning, in a way.”

Lorraine Warren, who died in 2019, was more than a character for Farmiga. She was a mentor and a friend. The actress has often talked about how Lorraine’s warmth and strength influenced her portrayal. You can feel that connection here—it’s a goodbye. Not just to characters, but to a legacy.

What we can expect

Don’t expect a greatest-hits montage of haunted dolls and demon nuns like some sort of evil version of Avengers: Endgame. This doesn’t seem to be that kind of sequel. It’s slower, heavier.

Expect more emotional reckoning and a lesser barrage of jump scares. It’s about Ed and Lorraine facing the consequences of a lifetime spent staring into the abyss.

The Conjuring: Last Rites premieres on 5 September 2025. It’s the final chapter, and if the teaser is anything to go by, it won’t be going out with a bang. Rather, it’ll go out with an eerie, haunting echo.

Watch the teaser below: