Since 2013 the Conjuring franchise has stood as a benchmark for horror movie success. It consists of nine main films, most telling stories pulled from the supposedly true cases of paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren. Every previous film proved to be highly profitable and constantly brought up in horror circles, and I’ve no doubt that the newest entry, The Conjuring: Last Rites, will continue that trend. Lots of things will be said about this film, purely because of its name. However, “It’s really good,” is  likely to not be among them.

Set a few years after The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the story this time sees Ed and Lorraine retired from investigating on account of Ed’s weak heart. When a cursed artifact from one of their first investigations resurfaces and begins to terrorize a family in Pennsylvania, the Warrens are dragged out of retirement by their daughter, Judy (Mia Tomlinson). However, the entity in the artifact has unknown ties to Judy and her involvement in this investigation may prove more dangerous than any of them anticipate.

Writing that synopsis, I can’t help but think how much potential that plot has. There are so many elements there that could make for a fantastic horror story, especially set against the backdrop of a haunted house and a separate, terrified family that the Warrens have to help.

Last Rites, unfortunately, has no interest in exploring any of those elements. It doesn’t care about Judy as an individual, and it has practically no time at all for the Smurls, the family this case is supposedly about. They are shoved to the side and mostly ignored. Instead, as always, the movie is about Ed and Lorraine and how brave they are, how kind they are, and how much everybody loves and needs them.

It was a bit annoying in The Conjuring when the Warrens were presented as nearly flawless, brilliant heroes. Twelve years later, it’s exhausting that we are still doing this. Regardless of how you may feel about the real couple, the characters simply aren’t interesting when portrayed this way. Wilson does a fine enough job as Ed, and Farmiga continues to be far too good for this material, but neither of them gets anything to do with their roles. They just show up, act like saints, solve all the problems, and get endless praise and adoration while they make loving faces at each other. We’ve seen it before, and it hasn’t gotten any better.

In between the incessant hero worship, the movie occasionally remembers it’s supposed to be a horror. There are some genuinely creepy moments, and the cast does a great job selling the terror. I thought the Smurls were great, what little we see of them. The family deals with the haunting for months with no assistance. The mixture of desperation, fear, and anger that they bring is exactly the kind of dynamic that could have made a fascinating film.

How would the Warrens handle a family that needs their help, but also resents them for taking so long? Especially when they find out that the only reason the haunting is happening is because they failed to do their job the first time. These are questions a good horror movie might ask. This one doesn’t care.

Instead, we don’t even see the Warrens interact with the Smurls for nearly two-thirds of the movie, and then we get a big, silly final act that does nothing to deepen these characters or wrap up the story in a compelling way. It’s a waste.

As per usual, the visuals and directing are all fine, it’s all suitably creepy and there are some fun story beats, but none of it goes anywhere or makes any difference because nobody cares to say anything or do anything with these characters and stories. Make no mistake, I’m sure The Conjuring: Last Rites is going to be a success and will almost certainly not actually be the last in the franchise. It just should be. It’s time to lay these movies to rest.