In the newest addition from The Conjuring Universe, we see the Latin American Folklore story of La Llorona in The Curse of the Weeping Woman (film title also known internationally as ‘The Curse of La Llorona’).
Set in the early 1970’s, we meet Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardelllini) who plays the widow mother of two young children Samantha (Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen) and Chris (Roman Christou). Working as a social worker, Anna visits the home of Patricia Alvarez (Patricia Velasquez) and discovers Patricia’s two young boys are hiding in a locked wardrobe and ignores the warnings from their screaming mother that she’s trying to protect them.
Shortly after trying to help the boys, Anna and her family start to be haunted by a mysterious ghostly lady figured, dressed all in white. Anna seeks the help from Father Perez (Tony Amendola) who explains the curse of La Llorona. Father Perez explains he’s unable to help and refers Anna to Raymond Cruz (Rafael Olvera). With La Llorona’s target on the children, and Raymond being the only option for help, can he help the distressed family put a stop to the curse before it’s too late?
As a huge fan of The Conjuring Universe, I was extremely excited to see this film but was also a little unsure after not being a fan of their last spinoff film, The Nun. Being slightly similar to The Nun, in terms of an evil presence of a female character, I felt as though this was ten times better. Possibly because the movies had different directors, but either way this movie was a great watch.
Linda Cardellini is fantastic in this film. There’s something about her that is intriguing and sweet yet also badass. After viewing this film, her name will be on everyone’s lips, and I’m hands down a fan. I also thoroughly enjoyed the outstanding performances by Roman Christou and Jaynee-Lynee Kinchen as the two lead children, Samantha and Chris.
For film lovers of the horror genre, I wouldn’t find this super scary. The film was only rated M, so that tells you a bit for what you’re in for. However, if you are easily scared, this film will be sure to have you covering your eyes. Even I found myself jumping in my seat at times as there’s plenty of suspenseful scenes.
With previous spin-off films from The Conjuring Universe, The Curse of the Weeping Woman doesn’t play a thick connection to the franchise besides the character Father Perez reappearing and sharing a small snippet scene of Annabelle. It will be interesting to see if they add La Llorona in future Conjuring films because she is one terrifying character I would love to see more of.
Head to your nearest cinema and check out The Curse of the Weeping Woman, which is in cinemas now.