The Nun 3 (2025): The Demon Returns
Genre: Supernatural Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Directed by: Michael Chaves
Starring: Taissa Farmiga, Bonnie Aarons, Demián Bichir, and Anya Taylor-Joy
In The Nun 3: The Demon Returns, the darkest chapter of The Conjuring Universe unfolds as Valak, the demon in the habit, rises once more—stronger, smarter, and more terrifying than ever.
Set in 1959, four years after the events of The Nun II, Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) has returned to a secluded convent in Ireland, believing she has finally escaped the horrors of her past. Haunted by visions of fire, blood, and a voice whispering in Latin, she senses something foul stirring in the shadows.
Elsewhere, strange deaths plague St. Brigid’s Orphanage, a remote Catholic institution in the Scottish Highlands. Children whisper of a "shadow nun" who watches them in the dark. A young orphan named Elspeth (Anya Taylor-Joy) claims the “Lady in Black” visits her dreams—and tells her secrets no child should ever know.
When the Vatican receives reports of unexplained activity and unholy symbols appearing in the walls, they summon Irene once again, this time joined by Father Burke’s successor, Father Mateo (Demián Bichir, returning via flashbacks and visions), and a skeptical bishop who believes the so-called “demon nun” was just mass hysteria.
But Irene knows the truth: Valak was never banished. It was only hiding.
As Irene and her allies arrive at St. Brigid’s, the orphanage seems quiet at first. But soon, doors slam in the night, crosses turn upside down, and the children begin chanting in Latin—words they were never taught. Elspeth, who once claimed to hear angels, now draws horrifying images of burning churches, dead nuns, and eyes in the walls.
In the chapel, Irene discovers ancient Gaelic carvings behind crumbling plaster—symbols tied to a pre-Christian cult that worshipped a being called “The Hollow Saint.” As the puzzle deepens, she realizes the demon Valak has not only returned—it is attempting to merge with a human vessel to walk fully among mankind.
That vessel is Elspeth.
Valak has chosen this orphan girl as its host not because of her innocence—but because of her bloodline. Elspeth, unknown even to herself, is a descendant of a long-forgotten saint—whose power once sealed the demon away centuries ago in a ruined abbey nearby. Now, Valak seeks to reverse the blood pact and bind itself permanently to the mortal world.
Irene must make a horrifying choice: save the child, or risk unleashing Valak into the world unbound.
Desperate, she journeys to the ruined abbey with Father Mateo and confronts a cloister of possessed monks who guard a cursed relic: The Tongue of Saint Aedan, a holy artifact capable of silencing demons—but only through the sacrifice of the one who wields it.
In the final act, lightning crashes as Irene returns to the orphanage, now fully transformed into a gateway of evil. Walls bleed, candles burn black, and the children chant as Valak rises through Elspeth in full demonic form.
In a powerful exorcism sequence, Irene stabs herself with the Tongue of Aedan, chanting ancient rites as blood pours from her eyes. Her sacrifice forces Valak into its true form—grotesque, winged, screaming—and briefly vulnerable.
Using the last of her strength, Irene binds the demon back into the relic, but at the cost of her own life.
Or so it seems.
Elspeth awakens unharmed. The orphanage returns to silence. Valak is gone.
But in the final scene, a new nun enters a distant convent in Spain. Her face is unseen. As she kneels to pray, a mirror beside her shows her true reflection:
Valak smiles."Evil never dies. It waits in silence."
In the present day, Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) dreams of a burning cross. She awakens, screaming a single name:
“Irene.”
The veil between worlds has thinned again.
