This movie sort of belittles and confuses the events in ANNABELLE, even though they show how they are connected. It has classic elements like the dichotomy of the innocence of children and the malevolence of demons but is frankly uninspired. Slightly better than Annabelle proper but only because it had better scares and acting. Other than reiterating that Annabelle is a conduit, they muddy the waters of what the entity wants and therefore the motivations to its actions.
⭐⭐.5
Trigger Warning Child Abuse (by Demons)
Orphans go to live in a house with the parents of a dead girl. The mother is hidden away having suffered an accident and the father used to be a rather famous doll maker (he crafted Annabelle, she is the only of her kind, making her extremely rare and once she is out of his hands she would be a collectors item that would cost a small fortune and not go to the hands of common folk so I have no idea how the couple from ANNABELLE get her but I digress).
Upon arrival, spooky happenings are afoot. A girl crippled by polo is the victim, she is led to find Annabelle and is tricked into freeing her. The doll is a lot more present and creepy in this film as is our dear demon friend. Exposition happens before the apparition vomits goo into the girls mouth (just as they did in The Conjuring) and she is possessed and made to stalk the house guests knife in hand. The parents are brutally murdered while the girls barely make it out alive.
The possessed girl goes missing then pops up in an orphanage where a young couple adopt her. This turns out to be the couple from the beginning of ANNABELLE whose daughter (the once orphan) joins a cult and murders her adoptive parents. As a not-so-subtle nod to the real Annabelle, the couple give the girl an actual Raggedy Anne doll which just leads me to more confusion of what universe we are in, the movie universe or our universe? The whole connection from Annabelle to Annabelle: Creation puts into question how the possession process works, how they got that which they were not offered, if the demon in Annabelle is just one or many… and a lot more taxing and unsatisfying questions that took a lot from the film and made me feel like I’d been had.
ANNABELLE: CREATION REWATCH
Why is the devil still using the little kid form after he's been found out? Why not just be the devil? If he is going to start right away being an evil fuck and do things that the little girl would never do then why pretend to be her anymore? What is the point? How in the hell did the entity rip Mrs. Mullins plain in half? What kind of poltergeist activity is that? That is just straight up what a bear does. Also how did that happen silently and with so little blood all over everything in the room? I am more baffled than I am afraid. Oh, wait, am I supposed to believe that the child tore a grown woman in half in less than a minute? Shenanigans!
The entity is so strong in film (especially compared to how strong they are in ANNABELLE), and it seems to straight up be the Devil himself? Full bodied apparitions and everything multiple times. Wack! What, does he suddenly go for a more gentle approach in the future (since the first movie is chronologically after this one)? Why is he so strong here? OH. SO THE DOLL IS JUST A CONDUIT FOR EVIL. Yeah, right, sure, whatever. It’s like they weren’t even trying. I rolled my eyes so hard when the priest said that. I mean honestly.
The connection at the end felt very thin after the rest of the movie was wild. Also the doll they use in this movie is cute in some frames but mostly just goofy looking and not like she wants to do harm. And the very end is a little reminder that the next movie to watch is THE NUN because there is nothing THE CONJURING universe movies like to do more than bring up that old bag.
You are still you, Simon. You are still the same son who I love to tease and who your father depends on for just about everything. And you're the same brother who always complements his sister on her food, even when it sucks. You get to exhale now, Simon. You get to be more you than you have been in... in a very long time. You deserve everything you want.
Soooo I just finished the first season of Away on Netflix - it was amazing. I connected with each character so genuinely and so deeply, it overwhelmed me. I cried EVERY episode, laughed every episode, jumped around, danced!
It was suspenseful but not in a jaw clenching way (at least not always). If you’re looking for a good time and love space movies, I highly recommend it!
(Lu Wang is the BEST character IMO but they’re all so so good)
