The Nun: The True Story Behind The Conjuring Prequel (2024)

As part of The Conjuring Universe, The Nun includes true-story connections that make the movie more disturbing. Based on the experience of real-life demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, The Conjuring Universe tells stories purported as real-life horrors with a supernatural connection. Actors Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have made the Warrens household names, but previous films have made tenuous connections between fact, fiction, and horror.

Questions about the movies’ inspirations become even stronger when considering the prequel, The Nun. The Nun takes place decades before the rest of The Conjuring Universe movies’ hauntings and in an entirely different part of the world. It’s a safe assumption that Romanian history isn’t as well known to most viewers, making it easier to blur the lines between reality and fiction. Still, the story isn’t entirely baseless. Real figures, locations, and accounts of demonic possession have ties to The Nun, adding a degree of realism that makes the movie creepier.

Who Is Valak? The Conjuring Demon Explained

The Demon Valak Appears in Multiple Historical Grimoires

The Conjuring Universe demon Valak had taken on many forms throughout The Conjuring franchise, functioning as an overarching nemesis to the Warrens. In The Nun, The Nun II, and The Conjuring 2, Valak memorably appears as a nun with pale skin, a hooked nose, glowing yellow eyes, hollowed eye sockets, and teeth like razor blades. However, the demon also takes on two other forms in The Conjuring 2. Interestingly, the demon Valak has a connection to actual demonology history, appearing with the names Valak, Volac, Valac, Malak, Falak, and Valu.

The demon appears in most demonology grimoires, most notably Pseudomonarchia Daemonum by Johann Weyer and The Lesser Key Of Soloman by Aleister Crowley. Across all significant historical grimoires, Valak looks like a child with angel wings who rides on the back of a two-headed dragon. It can deliver those who contact it to either treasures or serpents, highlighting its trickster nature. In theology, the symbol of the “serpent" can refer to demons or evils.

According to some sources, Valak is also the High President of Hell. He also rules over either 30 or 38 legions of demons. Like most theological figures, there is no proof that Valak exists in real life, but that doesn’t make the character any less fear-inducing and pervasive. The demon is haunting enough to appear in The Conjuring Universe five centuries after Weyer wrote about it.

Was Lorraine Warren Really Haunted By A Nun?

Valak's Nun Form Is Inspired By A Memory Lorraine Warren Described To The Conjuring 2 Director

The habit-ed, demonic nun isn't the traditional appearance of the demon Valak, raising questions about the inspiration for the movie The Nun. Surprisingly, the design of the demon’s form isn’t simply Hollywood marketing. It expands upon Lorraine Warren's actual experience with being haunted.

While making the press rounds for The Conjuring 2, where The Nun first emerged as an antagonist haunting Lorraine Warren, director James Wan explained the origin to i09. Lorraine told Wan that a spectral entity haunted her. It took the appearance of a swirling vortex with a hooded figure inside. The visual description is vague enough that the director could have come up with many interpretations.

After much thought, he decided to make the hooded figure Lorraine described into a demonic nun. Valak's nun form challenges Lorraine and Warren's faith because the demon looks like something that’s supposed to be holy. It’s also vivid imagery that lasts in the minds of viewers. The true story inspirations help explain Valak's role at the end of The Conjuring 2 – being tied to Lorraine specifically through visions.

Why The Nun Was Set At The Cârța Monastery

The Cârța Monastery Has A Long History Of Hauntings

The setting of The Nun helps shape the creepy ambiance of the movie, continuing to expand the haunted locations of The Conjuring Universe. The film takes place in the Cârța Monastery located in Transylvania, Romania. According to Atlas Obscura, the monastery was erected in 1205. Like the film, it was home to monks referred to as "white monks" because they wore white habits, not black. The Cârța Monastery had its Cistercian monks evicted by the King of Hungary around 1474.

When the events of The Nun depict the Abbey in full operation in 1952, the real-world monastery had been reduced to a handful of stone walls, while the rest of the original wooden structure wore away over time. Nowadays, the location is considered one of the most haunted places in Romania. According to Amy’s Crypt, the monastery is supposedly haunted by monks who lived there in paltry living conditions. They had ate poorly, worked excruciatingly hard, and never lived to be more than about 40 years old.

Two men were also buried in the cellar and began haunting the place after their graves were disturbed during an excavation. The most common signs of haunting include ghosts roaming the halls, the walls vibrating, objects flying across the room, and chairs dragging across the floor. The real-life haunting alters gives The Nun’s setting a bit of reality, increasing the movie’s scare factor.

Romania's History Of Nun Hauntings Explained

Romania Has One Notable Example Of A Nun Possession

Considering the previous Conjuring films tied into real-world events like the true story of the Amityville haunting and Enfield phenomena, it would be strange if The Nun ignored real supernatural history entirely. Luckily, the movie’s setting has a deeper connection to the paranormal outside of the specific abbey. Romania has a tragic nun “possession” called the Tanacu Exorcism, which took place in 2005.

According to NBC News, a 23-year-old nun named Maricica Irina Cornici was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and received a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Cornici was medicated and released to the care of the Holy Trinity convent with orders to follow up for more treatment in 10 days. Unfortunately, because her hallucinations involved her hearing the voice of the devil, the clergy believed they were witnessing a demonic possession. The resulting exorcism lasted three days, with her being tied to a cross, gagged with a towel, and left with no food or water. The nun tragically lost her life.

The horrific story and the subsequent criminal trial gave the Tanacu Exorcism global attention. In 2007, those responsible were sentenced to jail, gaining coverage in The New York Times. Between the haunting of the Cârța Monastery and the famous Tanacu Exorcism, Romania was the perfect location to give The Nun the realism that The Conjuring Universe strives for.

Was Sister Irene Based On A Real Person?

Sister Irene Provides A Central Point Of View For The Nun And The Nun II

While the setting of The Nun and the Warrens both exist, there’s no evidence that Sister Irene was based on an actual person. Her story doesn’t align with any known stories that tie into the movie. Moreover, her background and personality are vague enough that Irene could be any number of actual people. As such, it’s probable that she was created for The Nun and brought back in The Nun 2 cast, giving the movies a solid central point of view and throughline.

This provides The Nun with a less concrete experience upon which to build a story than any other Conjuring Universe movie. However, the filmmakers can be afforded a freebie since The Nun doesn't boast the same ties to true accounts or happenings as previous entries. Plus, the true history of the setting does add enough chills to make it feel realistic.

Other Conjuring Stories With True Stories Behind Them

The Conjuring Universe Pulls From The Warren Family’s Museum For Stories

While The Conjuring’s universe of movies as a whole are fictional stories, many of the tales presented are inspired by real artifacts in the Warren family’s museum and the stories behind them. Their museum has artifacts collected from cases they have worked on throughout their time as paranormal investigators.

The music box in the first movie, for example, that Lorraine Warren sees a child in when she plays it, is based on a music box actually present in the museum. It’s the same music box from the Perron family home, whose haunted house story inspires the first The Conjuring movie. The Perron family’s haunting isn’t one that has made it into many movies before The Conjuring gave it a fictional take. Their farm house was haunted and the Warrens were called to investigate in the 1970s.

Likewise, the Annabelle doll that got its own spin-off movies from The Conjuring, is also inspired by a real-life object. The real Annabelle doll is a Raggedy Anne doll and is housed in the museum. It’s said to be one of the most haunted dolls in the world, and as a result of the movies, has become one of the most famous real-life objects in the Warren family’s possession. The doll is actually housed in its own case as the Warrens have stated that no one has been able to remove the entity from within the doll that makes it a haunted object.

With a TV series set in the universe on the way, more stories like that of The Nun are sure to be pulled from the Warren archives.

Sources:Pseudomonarchia Daemonum by Johann Weyer, The Lesser Key Of Soloman by Aleister Crowley, i09, Atlas Obscura, Amy’s Crypt, NBC News, and The New York Times

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The Nun

R

Horror

Supernatural

Thriller

The Nun is a supernatural horror film by director Corin Hardy. When a young nun inexplicably takes her own life in a Romanian monastery, the Vatican sends a priest with a haunted past and a nun on the threshold of her final vows to investigate. Together, they uncover the order’s unholy secret. Risking not only their lives but their faith and very souls,

Director

Corin Hardy

Release Date

September 7, 2018

Writers

James Wan , Gary Dauberman

Cast

Bonnie Aarons , Charlotte Hope , Ingrid Bisu , Demián Bichir , Taissa Farmiga , Jonas Bloquet

Runtime

96 Minutes

Franchise(s)

The Conjuring