The Curse of La Llorona



Director - Michael Chaves (The Maiden, Chase Champion)
Starring - Linda Cardellini (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Scooby-Doo), Roman Christou (The Making of a Movie Monster), and Jaynee-Lynn Kinchen (NCIS: New Orleans, Enchanted Christmas)
Release Date - 2019
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "From the producers of "The Conjuring" Universe"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

 

     I spend a lot of my time watching no budget indie horror flicks.  At least 90% of my movie watching within a week is no budget indie horror.  I love these movies and no one can question my support for these filmmakers but I sometimes need an escape.  After a no budget binge I often toss in a theatrical release to relax.  I'm a huge fan of The Conjuring universe.  I love the first two films and The Nun has it's moments.  However, Annabelle was shit and I have yet to see the sequels but when I saw the trailer for The Curse of La Llorona I knew I would be checking it out.  When I received word that it was getting a physical release I had to reach out for a review copy. 

     The film follows social worker Anna (Cardellini) who is a single mother struggling with the death of her husband who was a police officer that died in the line of duty.   She is assigned to another single mother who has not sent her two sons to school.  When she arrives at the home she finds the mother disheveled and the two young boys locked in a small room.  She removes them and takes them back to an orphanage where they die that night from apparent drowning.  The mother blames Anna for her children's death and prays to the spirit of La Llorona to take Anna's two children.  That very night her children is visited from La Llorona and the curse begins forcing her to go outside of the church to save them before La Llorona can drown them.

     I'm not going to lie, I went into this one very excited.  As I stated earlier, I'm a huge fan of the first two films and The Nun had some fun moments but The Curse of La Llorona just didn't do it for me.  It was painfully paint by numbers that is predictable with absolutely no suspense.  The atmosphere is perfect for a supernatural tale but lacked the suspense that makes them so much fun.  The acting in this one is great.  I really liked Linda Cardellini and her character.  She is so likable and her character pulls the viewer in.  You become attached to her character and she does a phenomenal job with her emotional range.  I also really liked Raymond Cruz's performance.  His character is a little hard to get behind but he still delivers a solid performance.  The main focus of the film is the two children portrayed by Roman Christou and Jaynee-Lynn Kinchen.  Horror based around children is big now with Stranger Things and It dominating pop culture.   Sadly, these two do a great job but their characters have zero personality.  Most horror films centered around children give me anxiety but this one did not.  I don't blame the actor but I do blame the writer for writing the most uninteresting characters in movie history.  The story for this one stays somewhat true to the folklore around the Weeping Woman but does take some liberties like most movies do.  The story is actually very entertaining but misses it's mark after the same approach is applied to it as all the other films in The Conjuring universe.  It is painfully predictable and moves in the same manner as the other films.  You know everyone survives because that's how the other films ended.  No sense of dread or suspense can be established because the viewer knows exactly how it ends.  Finally, the visual effects we get are great and I loved the look of La Llorona.  The film does lack blood and gore but we do get a genuinely creeping spirit that would be unforgettable in any other film.  Overall, The Curse of La Llorona is not a solid entry in The Conjuring universe but that doesn't deter me from checking out the other films when they are released.