The original *The Conjuring* (2013) stands as the critical and audience favorite across the entire franchise, with an 86% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 83% audience score. Since that film’s release, the Conjuring Universe has expanded to include multiple spin-off series—the *Annabelle* trilogy, the *Nun* films, and various connected projects—each with its own critical reception. The scores vary dramatically across these films, ranging from James Wan’s acclaimed originals to several spin-offs that struggled to gain critical traction with scores in the 20-30% range.
The Conjuring Universe encompasses ten theatrical releases that form a loosely connected horror anthology, all under the umbrella of producer James Wan’s “Conjuring Universe” brand. While the main *Conjuring* films maintained respectable critical scores with the franchise’s second entry, *The Conjuring 2* (2016), earning 80%, the later sequels and spin-offs show a more fragmented critical reception. *The Conjuring: Last Rites*, released in 2025, achieved a 57% critics score but surprised audiences with a strong 79% audience score, suggesting that fan appreciation doesn’t always align with critical analysis in this franchise.
Table of Contents
- Which Conjuring Universe Films Are Rated Highest by Critics?
- Why Did the Annabelle and Nun Spin-offs Struggle Critically?
- How Much Do Audiences Disagree with Critics on These Films?
- What Do Horror Franchise Scores on Rotten Tomatoes Actually Tell You?
- How Did the Franchise’s Critical Performance Decline After the Second Film?
- Where Do the Spin-off Films Rank Against Each Other?
- Understanding the Rotten Tomatoes Scores as a Franchise Trajectory
Which Conjuring Universe Films Are Rated Highest by Critics?
Beyond the main series, *Annabelle: Creation* (2017) achieved the spin-offs’ highest critical score at 70%, suggesting that prequel narratives and a tighter focus on a single artifact can resonate with critics more effectively than broader ensemble casts. This film scored higher than the original *Annabelle* (2014), which received only 28%, demonstrating that a mid-budget horror prequel could outperform its source material if given better direction and writing.
- The Conjuring* (2013) remains the franchise’s undisputed critical champion with its 86% Certified Fresh rating, a score that reflects the film’s successful blend of jump scares and character development that appealed to both horror fans and mainstream audiences. The film’s success established the template for the franchise and earned widespread praise for director James Wan’s technical craftsmanship and the performances of Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson. *The Conjuring 2* (2016) followed as a solid sequel with 80%, maintaining the franchise’s credibility even as it relied more heavily on supernatural spectacle than its predecessor.
Why Did the Annabelle and Nun Spin-offs Struggle Critically?
The spin-off films—particularly the original *Annabelle* and *The Nun*—received poor critical reception, with scores of 28% and 25% respectively, despite the built-in interest from audiences already familiar with these antagonists from the main *Conjuring* films. Critics cited thin plots, reliance on cheap scares, and a lack of character development as recurring problems. These lower scores suggest that the Conjuring Universe’s critical cachet depends heavily on the presence of established leads like Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, rather than the universe’s broader mythology.
- The Nun II* (2023) improved on its predecessor with a 51% score, but this still placed it well below the main series and *Annabelle: Creation*. A notable limitation when comparing these films is that audience scores are not consistently available across all releases, making it difficult to assess whether critics are simply harsher on spin-offs or whether audiences also prefer the main narrative. *The Curse of La Llorona* (2019), with its 26% critics score, demonstrated that stretching the Conjuring Universe brand to include unrelated supernatural folklore proved especially problematic for both critical credibility and narrative coherence.
How Much Do Audiences Disagree with Critics on These Films?
The gap between critic and audience scores reveals fascinating patterns in the Conjuring Universe fanbase. While *The Conjuring* saw only a 3-point gap between critics (86%) and audiences (83%), other films show much larger discrepancies.
*The Conjuring 2* had audiences rate it 16 points lower than critics (80% vs. 67%), suggesting critics were more forgiving of the sequel’s approach than fans who expected a tighter experience. This inverse pattern—critics rating films higher—became more pronounced in later releases.
- The Conjuring: Last Rites* (2025) demonstrates the most dramatic reverse gap, with audiences scoring the film at 79% while critics only gave it 57%, a 22-point difference favoring audiences. This suggests that the most recent film succeeded in delivering what fans wanted even if critics found it formulaic or narratively weak. The original *Annabelle* showed the opposite problem, with both critics and audiences similarly disappointed at 28% and 35% respectively, indicating broad agreement about quality rather than a taste divide.
What Do Horror Franchise Scores on Rotten Tomatoes Actually Tell You?
A rating like 86% for *The Conjuring* does not mean the film is 86% good—Rotten Tomatoes simply measures what percentage of critics gave the film a thumbs-up rating, not the intensity or reasoning behind those reviews. A film with 86% could have been praised for different reasons by different critics: some might cite cinematography, others character work, and still others simply note that it effectively scared them. When comparing *The Conjuring’s* 86% to *Annabelle’s* 28%, you’re comparing broad critical consensus against near-universal dismissal, not measuring a linear quality scale.
This measurement system also explains why the high performers in the franchise (*The Conjuring*, *The Conjuring 2*, and *Annabelle: Creation*) stand out so clearly. A Rotten Tomatoes score above 70% for a horror film already places it in a competitive tier, as the genre typically receives more critical scrutiny than mainstream drama or comedy films. The distinction between 80% and 70% represents a meaningful difference in how critics framed the film’s merits, even if both crossed the “fresh” threshold.
How Did the Franchise’s Critical Performance Decline After the Second Film?
A warning worth noting: the decline in critical scores for later franchises does not always reflect audience abandonment, as box office performance for *The Devil Made Me Do It* remained strong despite middling reviews. *The Conjuring: Last Rites* (2025) continued this trend with a 57% critics score, suggesting that the main series itself has settled into a range where critics acknowledge competence but express reservations about originality or narrative depth—essentially treating new entries as adequately entertaining rather than noteworthy cinema.
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It* (2021) marked the beginning of a critical decline, earning only 56%, a significant drop from *The Conjuring 2’s* 80%. Critics noted that the third main-series film relied more heavily on spectacle and less on sustained suspense, and that the real-world basis for the story (the Perron family haunting) felt increasingly distant from the plot as presented. The film’s shift toward action-oriented sequences rather than psychological dread disappointed reviewers accustomed to Wan’s earlier approach, though the film still outperformed most spin-offs.
Where Do the Spin-off Films Rank Against Each Other?
Among the Conjuring Universe’s most notable spin-offs, *Annabelle: Creation* (70%) significantly outperformed the original *Annabelle* (28%), making it the strongest spin-off in critical estimation. *Annabelle Comes Home* (2019) landed at 64%, sitting between its predecessors and suggesting a trajectory where the franchise found a middle ground after the original film’s critical failure.
The *Nun* films followed a similar recovery pattern, with *The Nun II* (51%) substantially improving on the original *The Nun’s* disastrous 25% rating. The improvement from first to second entries in both spin-off series indicates that filmmakers learned from initial failures, though neither series reached the credibility of *Annabelle: Creation*. This suggests that prequel stories and tighter focus on individual antagonists work better for critical reception than attempting to build larger ensemble narratives around supporting characters.
Understanding the Rotten Tomatoes Scores as a Franchise Trajectory
Examining all ten theatrical Conjuring Universe films in order reveals a narrative arc: exceptional quality with the original film (86%), sustained competence through *The Conjuring 2* (80%) and *Annabelle: Creation* (70%), then a general settling into the 50-64% range for newer entries. The franchise’s most recent films—*The Devil Made Me Do It* (56%), *The Nun II* (51%), and *The Conjuring: Last Rites* (57%)—cluster together in this middle tier, suggesting that the Conjuring Universe has found a ceiling where critics consistently acknowledge technical proficiency without enthusiasm.
The critical consensus across all releases shows that the films starring Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson maintain stronger critical positioning than pure spin-offs, and that prequels focusing on the origin of a single artifact (as in *Annabelle: Creation*) outperformed broader ensemble narratives. James Wan’s direct involvement in the first two films corresponded with the franchise’s highest critical peaks, and his reduced involvement in later entries tracks with declining critical scores across both the main series and spin-offs.
