Horror · Thriller
The Conjuring
American
2013 · Directed by James Wan · 112 min
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Horror · Thriller
American
2013 · Directed by James Wan · 112 min
Meaning, unpacked
Central idea
The film can be read as a story about family as the real stronghold against fear. The haunting attacks the bonds between parents and children, and the Warrens' marriage and faith are what answer it.
Its lasting influence
It launched the Conjuring Universe, with sequels and spinoffs that made a shared universe the dominant model for horror franchises. It also helped bring polished, atmosphere-led supernatural horror back into the mainstream.
The rest, in short
The central idea is that family is the real stronghold against fear. The haunting goes after the bond between parents and children, and the Warrens answer it with their marriage and their faith. Think about the ending. The exorcism is intercut with an emotional memory, and Lorraine's appeal to the mother wins through love, not force. Ritual matters, but connection decides it.
Wan's technique carries the rest. Long, gliding takes and slow pans make you scan the frame yourself, and the hide-and-clap game shows anticipation beating spectacle. Sound tells you where to look before the image does.
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Create your free spaceWhat happens
During the exorcism, Bathsheba possesses Carolyn and turns her on her own children. Lorraine reaches her by recalling the love of her family, and the spirit's hold breaks. The Perrons are freed, and the Warrens go home.
The last image
Back in the Warrens' locked artifact room, the doll sits in its place, a hint that their work will go on.
What it says
The film ends this way because it is about family. Ritual helps, but love is what defeats Bathsheba, since she attacks the bond between mother and children. The Warrens' closing return to work shows the fight never fully ends.
Or follow an idea from this film
See what influenced it
The Haunting (1963)
The classic that proves a haunted house can terrify without showing much. Compare its restraint and sound design with Wan's approach.
Follow the idea
The Exorcist (1973)
The foundational film of serious demonic-possession horror, centred on family, faith and a priest's doubt.
Coming soon
Compare another approach
Paranormal Activity (2009)
The found-footage haunting that dominated the years before The Conjuring. It shows the opposite approach to the same fear.
Continue the director
Insidious (2010)
Wan's earlier supernatural film, also scored by Joseph Bishara, shows his craft in a rawer form and leads naturally to The Conjuring.
Coming soon
Jump forward
Hereditary (2018)
A later family-centred supernatural horror film that pushes slow dread and domestic grief into harsher, more disturbing territory.
