Now, the film opens with a pair of boys playing in an open field with their mother. They begin spinning around and one of them discovers that he's the only one in the field. He goes to investigate where his brother and mother have gone. He happens upon a dreadful sight - his mother drowning in his brother in a river. Turning upon her son, the mother quickly goes after her son and is able to grab him. This is La Llorona. And it's a bit of a powerful opening. Especially as it sets up that kids aren't exactly safe in this film.
1973. A social worker, Anna (Linda Cardellini), is investigating a troubled mother, Patricia (Patricia Velasquez), that is suspected of child endangerment. Anna discovers Patricia has her two boys locked in a closet. Unsure of what else to do and having her hands tied, Anna takes the boys with her to an orphanage after Patricia is taken in by the police. Anna returns home to her children, Chris (Roman Christou) and Samantha (Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen). Anna is doing the best to take her of her family as she is dealing with the loss of her husband. Later that night, the two boys are taken by La Llorona.
Anna is awoken by a phone call. She's been called to identify the bodies. Having no one else at home, Anna takes Chris and Samantha with her. Anna instructs Chris not to leave the car and to watch his sister. What could go wrong? Anna talks with Detective Cooper (Sean Patrick Thomas) and able to identify the bodies. Chris leaves the car because it wouldn't be a movie if he didn't listen. However, he quickly wishes he would have listened to his mom as he encounters La Llorona (Marisol Ramirez). This is just the beginning of their problems. Soon enough, Anna and her family turn to Rafael (Raymond Cruz), a former priest, to help against La Llorona.
I won't dive too much farther into the details of the story. But rest assured, this is a solid entry in the Conjuring films. Yeah, I understand that there are some people that will disagree to it being part of the Conjuring films. But the connecting tissue between the two is the character of Father Perez (Tony Amendola). Perez was the priest from the first Annabelle film. It was nice to see him return, even if it is for a small cameo.
The cast in this film does a wonderful job. One of the biggest parts in a film like this would be the children. Roman Christou and Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen deliver solid performances as Chris and Samantha. I was quick to finding myself caring about what happened to them. And that's something that could be very hit or miss. If you don't like a kid in a role, there's a chance you'll grit your teeth while watching a film. That wasn't the case here. Linda Cardellini also does a very awesome job with her role. That is probably the next strongest point in this film is the family. If there's no chemistry then it won't work. However, this definitely comes across as a solid family unit. It was also fun to see Sean Patrick Thomas in a horror film once again. The last time I remember seeing him in one was Dracula 2000.
Being that this is ultimately a ghost story, there isn't really much gore in the film. The film relies on atmosphere and tension. However, the studio also probably enforced jump scares. And boy is there jump scares. Not surprisingly, I will admit that the film made me jump a few times. But I strongly believe that it comes down to a loud noise accompanying the jump scare. Chaves does deliver on the atmosphere and tension. And it's easy to see why he was picked to helm The Devil Made Me Do It. His work with shadows is really cool. Plus there was one shot that I just loved. It might be a shot that was included in a trailer (wouldn't be surprised) but it involves Sam by a pool with an umbrella. It's set completely in the day. There's a good chunk of the film that is set in the day. But the way the Umbrella is used to show Llorona is awesome. I definitely think that might be my favorite part in the film as it is one that is very memorable. And by this point, a good chunk of these films always have a part or two that are very memorable.
Now, I will take some time to talk about La Llorona. In the rest of the Conjuring films, we have seen some pretty cool designs. It's definitely safe to say that one of the most memorable ones belongs to The Nun. She's very distinct, striking and cool. La Llorona definitely fits into the pantheon of Conjuring Creatures (is that what you'd call it?). In the beginning of the film, she's very haunting. A figure in a dress that has her face covered. It has a bit of a tragic feel to it. However, as the film goes on - it begins to show Llorona's face more. This is something that began to hurt the film. The more I began to see of her, the more I began to wish they would have kept her to the shadows. It's not that it's a bad design. It's just more effective when you see less. The use of mirrors with Llorona was also pretty cool.
Overall, this was a solid film. It had a nice atmosphere to it. The pacing was also really well done. I didn't find myself bored with it. And found myself caring about the characters a lot as well. Definitely would be fun to watch on a rainy day.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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