Today, the film, The Nun from the Conjuring universe has hit the screens. Though the film is not based on a "true story", like the other Conjuring films, it is a kind of origin story for the demonic presence that haunted Lorraine, played by Vera Farmiga, in Conjuring 2.
So it'd be ideal if the movie wasn't based on a real story, but sorry! No such luck—the horror flick is indeed inspired by a handful of true events.
If you haven't yet seen The Nun because you cherish your ability to fall sleep, allow me to give you a brief recap. The film follows a nun named Sister Irene who travels to Romania to investigate a creepy incident at a monastery involving an ~entity~ called Valak. The story serves as a very disturbing prequel to The Conjuring, another freaky movie based on the real case files of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, which begs the question...
Director James Wan, for his part, says that The Nun was inspired by a demon that haunted Lorraine Warren's home, which she once described as a "swirling tornado vortex with this hooded figure." Wan built on Warren's description of the demon when he first created the nu
character for The Conjuring 2:
I remember hearing that and my first thought was, ‘Oh crap, that’s going to be a CGI character.' I didn’t want to do that. And so, it kind of took me a while to cement in my head what this vision was. And it came across eventually in a very organic way. Because it is a demonic vision that haunts her, that only attacks her, I wanted something that would attack her faith. Something that would threaten the safety of her husband. And so that was eventually how the idea of this very iconographic image of a holy icon cemented in my head.
Okay, So Is This "Valak" Thing Real?
YUP! That is, if you believe in demons! Though it has never taken the form of a nun before, Valak has shown up in several magic books, including The Lesser Key of Solomon, which dates back to the mid 17th century. The book describes Valak like this:
He is a President Mighty and Great, and appeareth like a Child with Angel's Wings, riding on a Two-headed Dragon. His Office is to give True Answers of Hidden Treasures, and to tell where Serpents may be seen. The which he will bring unto the Exorciser without any Force or Strength being by him employed. He governeth 38 Legions of Spirits.
Cool-cool-cool.
At the end of the day, it's up to you to decide whether you want to believe that parts of The Nun are based on fact, but I'm probably just gonna err on the side of caution and never enter a convent again. Also, it might be a good idea to avoid all children with angel wings riding on a two-headed dragon. Goodbye!
See y'all soon with another story.
