The Conjuring: Last Rites — The Rise And Rise Of Christian Superheroism
|
The ninth (and final) offering from The Conjuring Universe's first phase is another cog in the post-truth wheel, weaponising a culture of faith and fear in the form of ghost propaganda, writes Rahul Desai.
|
| | | Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy | | | | THE CONJURING UNIVERSE (TCU) is to mainstream horror cinema what the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is to the modern superhero film. Essentially, these are populist genre franchises that insist they will see us again and again (‘CU’) at the theatres — and boy, do they manage. Now that the mandatory dad joke is out of the way, I have to admit that The Conjuring: Last Rites, the ninth and final film in the ‘first phase’ of this universe (see what I mean?), features some very effective supernatural storytelling. In terms of its primary characters and world expansion, it does a neat job of being a sequel. The linearity of time is evident. The one-case-per-film format continues, but there’s a sense of accumulated life about paranormal investigators and protagonists Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga). You can tell that they’ve been through the stress of fame and notoriety for two decades together till the mid-1980s — the toll shows, the desire to move on is palpable. Your pop culture fix awaits on OTTplay, for only Rs 149 per month. Grab this limited-time offer now! After the Annabelle and Nun spin-offs deployed the youngness of their daughter Judy, Last Rites is centred on her as an adult (a Zooey Deschanel-coded Mia Tomlinson) haunted by her past. The film opens with baby Judy’s stillbirth in 1964 when the Warrens get infected by an antique mirror; Judy lives, but the trauma — the curse — remains. She was not supposed to have lived, so a darkness follows her. (That sound you hear is the Final Destination franchise licking its lips). The Warrens are soon semi-retired in 1986, Judy brings her serious boyfriend, Tony, to meet her parents, and the Warrens’ allies from previous movies have settled into a pensioner rhythm. Meanwhile, in a coal-mining town of Pennsylvania, the middle-class Smurl family of 8 starts to experience paranormal incidents in their new house after the arrival of a familiar mirror. The Smurls cannot afford to leave, so they enlist the help of the local church. Inevitably, the news reaches Ed and Lorraine, who are reluctant to take up the case but find themselves driving to Pennsylvania with Tony once Judy gets involved. |
| | As Inspector Zende, Manoj Bajpayee Leads A Fun Gang In A Dull World
|
The Netflix film aspires to turn a gory story into a pulp fiction-like narrative, but forgets that aspiration midway. Shubham Kulkarni reviews. |
| | | Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Jim Sarbh, Girija Oak, Sachin Khadekar | | | | IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MANOJ BAJPAYEE and his fascination with playing men in uniform, there is now an addition. Alongside the multiverse of Bajpayee is the world with different variations of the infamous criminal Charles Shobhraj. Films and shows at this point have explored the man who escaped multiple prisons across the world in several avatars. The last was Black Warrant (also on Netflix), where Sidhant Gupta gave a phenomenal performance in the Vikramaditya Motwane-created show. While it is difficult to top that iteration of the real-life criminal, this time Jim Sarbh takes the job in Inspector Zende. Does this fictionalised account of a true story work in all ways possible? Directed by The Kashmir Files actor Chinmay Mandlekar, Inspector Zende, now streaming on Netflix, is a film that aspires to be clever, funny, and pulpy all at once, and not as though it is a novel aspiration. Films like Special 26 have already achieved that (ironically, it also starred Manoj Bajpayee). While Inspector Zende is completely unlike the Akshay Kumar starrer, it aims to tell a story that, while retaining the gravitas of the crimes committed by the subject, also wants to build a pulp fiction tale around it. Here is a man who killed 32 innocent people just to continue his luxurious lifestyle. Injecting comedy into such a story is in itself a very tricky task. |
| | The one newsletter you need to decide what to watch on any given day. Our editors pick a show, movie, or theme for you from everything that’s streaming on OTT. |
| Each week, our editors pick one long-form, writerly piece that they think is worthy of your attention, and dice it into easily digestible bits for you to mull over. |
| In which we invite a scholar of cinema, devotee of the moving image, to write a prose poem dedicated to their poison of choice. Expect to spend an hour on this. |
| | Hindustan Media Ventures Limited,
Hindustan Times House, 18-20,
Second Floor, Kasturba Gandhi
Marg, New Delhi - 110 001, India |
DOWNLOAD THE OTTPLAY APP 🔽 |
| | Liked this newsletter? Forward it, or share using the buttons below! |
If you need any guidance or support along the way, please send an email to ottplay@htmedialabs.com . We’re here to help! |
©️2025 OTTplay, HT Media Labs. All rights reserved. |
| | |
