The Conjuring: Last Rites Stars on Fact vs. Fiction in Warrens’ Last Case

This week sees the release of the “final” film (or so they say) in the Conjuring Universe, The Conjuring: Last Rites. In all four of the mainline Conjuring movies, there are  life and death stakes for the fictional versions of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson onscreen. Given how involved the real-life Judy Warren and late Lorraine Warren have been as advisors for the Conjuring Universe films, it was never likely that franchise stewards James Wan or Michael Chaves would stoop to Tarantino-esque historical subterfuge where Ed get killed by a demon and dragged to hell. We know the Warrens survived all their cases. 

That said, we asked star Farmiga and Wilson how they continually pull off the magic trick of investing the audience in the Warrens’ fate within these high-tension horror stories.

“It’s a good question,” Wilson says. “They both went on. Lorraine had about another 40 years after this, and Ed about 30. I don’t know… how do you pull the audience along? I think it’s always life and death for the families, and it’s life and death for them. Specifically with Ed, we had done so much work on his heart attack. I was very conscious of ‘guys we can’t keep going back to the well on that.’ It’s got to be new. We have to have a new demon, so to speak.”

According to series producer and Last Rites story creator James Wan, choosing which real-life haunting case the Warrens investigated is the key to unlocking an audience’s rooting interest for each film in the series. In this movie, this meant tying in the fate of the Smurl family, a new bedeviled set of characters whose case is the centerpiece of the film, with that of the Warrens’ own daughter, Judy. Their child nearly dies at birth in the film’s opening scene, then two decades later becomes integral to the Smurl investigation alongside her own impending marriage.

As Wan explains, “One of the big factors we look into is if a particular case is A) well known enough, and B) if it ties in with the emotional story of what we want to tell with the Warrens’ dynamic.”

“It wasn’t up to us,” Farmiga notes. “It’s a very interesting question to discuss. It’s hard with spoilers and all that, but it is up to the writers. They had to make it life or death, for a couple to go through a stillbirth. There are life and death circumstances that were written into the plot of this, and this is the most bloodthirsty demon they could have written that has a very personal grudge. It was up to the writers to make it personal, emotionally and with veracity.”

Wilson adds, “You know what it is too, Vera? In terms of loss, right? Because if you’re structuring a film—take away what’s real and what’s not—you want to find a low point for your character, and a lot of times it’s impending death. But there’s such a loss here, of them trying to grapple with ‘are we losing a daughter?’ It’s like in every parental movie with a daughter that’s about to get married. Are you losing your daughter but gaining a son? There’s life-changing moments in this film from the very beginning, a super life-changing tragedy is like that. You never get over it, so you’re already imbuing them with such a sense of loss… so it’s all about wins and losses in this movie. We always have that in terms of demons, but you have that in terms of family here as well, so it’s not as cut and dry as like, ‘And this person will die in this film.'” 

Farmiga would seem to agree.

“I think what’s different about this, especially for Lorraine, is Lorraine’s always tried to protect Judy,” says Farmiga. “She’s always wrapped her in spiritual bubble wrap trying to protect her, keeping the noise out, keeping the shadows at bay. But now it’s different. She’s very different.”

Mia Tomlinson, who takes over the role of Judy from previous actresses Sterling Jerins and Mckenna Grace, was given first-hand stories from the real Judy (now Judy Spera) about the paranormal minefields of “growing up as a Warren.”

“Judy’s very guarded,” Tomlinson explains. “She’s quiet, she’s keeping it to herself. She’s trying to hold it together, but it’s just like a loose unraveling rope. I used what Judy gave me in the way she has a mantra that is ‘don’t look it in the eyes, don’t give it recognition.’ That’s how she approached Annabelle. It was a mantra I used on set, and it kept me grounded, because I am a very energetic person. You’ve got to be. We’re sort of playing in between what the real life Judy has done in her life and what Judy has done in this film, and there’s a way to balance it.”

The blurring between fact and fiction also gives the actors an opportunity to explore deeper universal truths that come with being a parent or child.

Says Farmiga, “There’s that maternal loss when your babies grow up. You’ve raised them to be independent, but now they’re independent and she’s got a mind of her own. Lorraine did her best to keep Judy on ‘airplane mode’ for a long time, and now the kid’s got spiritual WiFi. She wants to get that signal. That’s the way Lorraine described it to me. She described it very much as a signal. Lorraine kept Judy in the safe zone for so many years, and that’s very different in this one plot-wise. She knows how draining tapping into the other side can really be.”

To his credit, director Michael Chaves (in his fourth go-round making a Conjuring Universe film) continually keeps all the demonic sturm und drang secondary to the plot involving Judy and her engagement to Tony Spera (played by Ben Hardy). The impact that has on Ed and Lorraine is just as powerful as the evil mirror at the center of the haunting. 

Says Chaves, “I am so proud of all the character work in it, and the character story that we tell. I think that’s really why people come back to this franchise, for Ed and Lorraine. It’s for the amazing characters that Patrick and Vera have created. In any great series that’s what you’re coming back to. You’re coming back for the characters and to see them on this next step in their journey.”

With the story of Ed and Lorraine purportedly coming to an “end” with The Conjuring: Last Rites, it would be interesting to see Judy and Tony take center stage in a future installment. 

“I’d love that, I’m sure,” admits Tomlinson. “You would as well, Ben, right? We would love to work together and take the torch!”

“Sure, yeah, pass us the mantle,” Ben Hardy laughs. “They still run the family business, as far as I’m aware, so yeah. Who knows?”

“Fingers crossed,” adds Tomlinson. 

The Conjuring: Last Rites opens in theaters everywhere on Friday, Sept. 5.