The Conjuring: Last Rites · reception & legacy

How The Conjuring: Last Rites has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

Landed in September 2025 to shrugging reviews but a monster box office, and the dust settled fast: fans now file it less as a horror movie than as a sentimental series finale — the 'goodbye to Ed and Lorraine' episode that's more teary than terrifying.

What's debated

The recurring fight is whether a Conjuring movie this light on actual scares can still count as a worthy send-off — and, as always with this franchise, whether films lionising the real-life Warrens should exist at all.

Its footprint

Its cultural headline is commercial: the film that proved horror could open like a superhero movie, capping the highest-grossing horror franchise in history and instantly becoming the benchmark every horror release since has been measured against.

Where it stands

Not a canon climber — it lives in Letterboxd 'Conjuring universe ranked' lists and franchise-farewell discourse, valued more as a full-circle goodbye to Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga's Warrens than as anyone's favourite entry.

Named by the director

Influences Michael Chaves has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

• Logan (2017) — Chaves repeatedly cited Logan as his model for a franchise finale, admiring how it stayed intimate and character-focused instead of unleashing every villain for a sprawling last chapter.