Like the first two films, this one is again loosely based on a true story. Ed and Lorraine Warren are called upon to help exorcise a demon from a young boy. This would lead to the demon passing into another body, whom it would use to commit a murder. The case would go to court, where it would be the first example of a defence of demonic possession being made. It's then down to the Warrens to investigate and somehow try to prove, to a legal standard, the existence of demons.
That plot makes this film sound so much more interesting than it actually was. To be fair, the opening act was good. The whole exorcism sequence was nicely staged and effectively creepy. The performances from Wilson and Farmiga were typically impressive. From there you would think the film will go somewhere but it's unfortunately downhill after that. The performances of Wilson and Farmiga continued to be good throughout. The score wasn't bad either. However, the story this time felt surprisingly dull. The main focus of the plot in fact revolved around a curse, which had been cast by an evil spirit. This has the core concept to be a much better film than it turned out to be. The jump scares were all predicable. The supporting characters were boring. The main villain left no lasting impact. When compared to the first two Conjuring films, this one just felt like a disappointment.
