Review | The Curse of La Llorona film review: The Conjuring horror universe expands into Latin American folklore
- Linda Cardellini plays a widowed social worker in 1970s Los Angeles, whose family is targeted by the malevolent spirit of a 300-year-old Mexican woman
- The period setting is just a backdrop for what turns out to be a conventional, if occasionally effective, ghost story
2.5/5 stars
After just five films, James Wan’s The Conjuring series has become the second highest-grossing horror franchise in cinema history, with only Godzilla earning more. The producer now brings Latin American folklore into the mix with The Curse of La Llorona, but otherwise the formula remains largely unchanged.
Linda Cardellini plays a widowed social worker in 1970s Los Angeles, whose family is targeted by the malevolent spirit of a 300-year-old Mexican woman. Legend has it that “La Llorona” drowned her own children in a fit of jealous rage, and now wanders the Earth abducting other youngsters in the hope of bringing hers back from the grave.
Initially sceptical, the fiercely agnostic Anna (Cardellini) is forced to reconsider her faith after two young children in her protection wind up dead, and her own son and daughter are subsequently visited by “the weeping woman”.
But when the church and the cops fail to offer adequate protection, Anna turns to Rafael Olvera (Raymond Cruz), a former priest, now unconventional shaman and exorcist, for help protecting her family home.
As with The Conjuring and Annabelle films, the period setting is mere set-dressing for a conventional, if occasionally effective, ghost story. First-time director Michael Chaves, who will also direct next year’s The Conjuring 3, follows Wan’s jump-scare playbook diligently.
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But the script is littered with narrative dead ends: Anna’s dead-cop husband proves largely inconsequential beyond giving her special access to police files, while Patricia Velásquez’s suspicious, then grief-stricken, then vengeful mother pops in and out of the plot seemingly at random.
Despite these faults, audiences looking for an uncomplicated slice of creepy Friday night fun should be sufficiently sated. Wan’s established school of scares knows exactly how to ratchet up tension and toy with audience expectations.
Cardellini is an effortlessly competent heroine, and while the script refuses to give her more to do than chase after her children and scream the house down, she evacuates her lungs admirably.
Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen and Roman Christou, as Anna’s victimised offspring, prove equally proficient, even if they should have just stayed in the car, like their mother told them to.
