Who Was the Nun in the Nun
The 2018 film The Nun centers on a demonic entity called Valak, depicted as a sinister nun. The character is not based on a single real historical nun but is drawn from a demonic figure in Catholic lore. The story is a fictional expansion of events from The Conjuring 2, which itself was inspired by the 1976 Enfield Poltergeist case. The film was produced by New Line Cinema and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, with a screenplay by Gary Dauberman and direction by Corin Hardy. The Nun was rated R for horror violence and disturbing images, and it grossed over 365 million dollars worldwide against a 22 million dollar budget, making it one of the highest-grossing entries in The Conjuring Universe. For more on the film's box office performance, see Box Office Mojo.
The demon Valak appears in the 1613 grimoire the Lesser Key of Solomon as a president of hell who can appear as a nun with angel wings. The film adaptation reimagines Valak as a cloaked, faceless nun to emphasize religious horror. The production team consulted Catholic iconography and Vatican archives to design the habit, rosary, and chapel scenes. The makeup and prosthetics were created by Bill Corso, who aimed for a decaying, corpse-like texture on the face beneath the veil. The film's marketing campaign highlighted the image of the nun crawling down stairs, which became one of the most shared horror memes in 2018.
Real Life Inspiration and Catholic Context
The Nun does not depict a specific real-life nun but draws on the broader tradition of demonic nuns in Christian demonology. The character's visual design blends elements of a 1950s Romanian Catholic nun's habit with exaggerated, rotting features. The film is set in 1956 at a decrepit abbey in Romania, a choice that ties the story to the historical region of Transylvania and its association with vampire and occult folklore. The production team used the Corvin Castle and other Romanian locations to create an authentic atmosphere. The abbey scenes were filmed at the Castel Film Studios in Bucharest, Romania.
Catholic demonologists have long used the image of a nun to represent corrupted holiness, a theme explored in The Nun. The film's lore states that Valak was once a fallen angel who took the form of a nun to deceive believers. This narrative device echoes historical accounts of demonic possession and exorcism rituals documented by the Catholic Church. The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has published guidelines on exorcism, which the film references indirectly through the use of holy water, Latin prayers, and a relic of Saint Lucy. The character of Father Burke, played by Demián Bichir, represents a conventional exorcist figure rooted in these traditions.
Box Office, Sequel, and Franchise Impact
The Nun earned 365.6 million dollars globally, with 117.5 million dollars from the United States and Canada, according to The Numbers. The film opened at number one at the box office in its first weekend, outperforming other horror releases that year. Its success led to a sequel, The Nun II, which was released in 2023 and continued the story of Valak in 1950s France. The Nun II grossed over 268 million dollars worldwide, extending the franchise's total box office take to more than 630 million dollars across both films. The franchise is managed by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema, with James Wan serving as producer through his Atomic Monster banner.
The Nun is the fifth installment in The Conjuring Universe, which includes The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Conjuring 2, Annabelle: Creation, and The Nun. The franchise has earned