The Conjuring 2 · reception & legacy
2016 · James Wan
How The Conjuring 2 has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
A rare horror sequel that landed as well as the original in 2016 — critics praised it, it made over $300M — and its stature has only grown as fans now routinely rank it at or near the top of the whole Conjuring Universe.
What's debated
The perennial fan fight is Conjuring 1 vs Conjuring 2 — plus the thornier debate over the films lionising the real-life Warrens and treating the much-disputed Enfield case as fact.
Its footprint
It gave the world Valak, the demon nun — instantly meme-fied, endlessly cosplayed, and popular enough to spin off into The Nun, which became the franchise's biggest earner.
Where it stands
Widely held up by horror fans as proof James Wan is the great mainstream scare-craftsman of his era, and a fixture in 'best horror of the 2010s' lists and Letterboxd rankings.