What actually happens
A confirmation present nobody asked for
The film opens in 1964, when Ed Warren and Lorraine, who is pregnant, look into a haunting tied to an antique mirror. Lorraine sees a vision of an entity along with her unborn child, collapses, and goes into labor, and Ed rushes her to the hospital. The baby is stillborn until Lorraine's prayers bring her back, and she names her Judy. By 1986 the Smurls have relocated to a house in West Pittston, Pennsylvania. Jack and Janet share it with Jack's parents, Mary and John, their daughters Dawn, Heather and the twins Carin and Shannon, plus a dog named Simon. For Heather's confirmation, John gives her the antique mirror. At dinner a kitchen light drops from the ceiling and narrowly misses Heather.
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A lecture tour with a very small audience
Ed's heart condition makes the Warrens retire from investigating, and they keep giving lectures that few people attend. Judy, who now has a boyfriend named Tony, is increasingly sensitive to psychic visions. At dinner she panics, and Lorraine calms her with a childhood rhyme and tells her to shut herself off from the supernatural. Meanwhile the Smurls keep getting menaced by three spirits: an old woman, a younger woman and a man carrying an axe, even after Dawn and Heather try to get rid of the mirror. The family tells the media, which gets the attention of Father Gordon. At Ed's birthday party Judy accepts Tony's proposal. Father Gordon, unable to reach the Warrens, goes to the Diocese of Scranton, where the demon drives him to suicide. At his funeral Judy has a vision that he died investigating the Smurls, so she secretly leaves for Pennsylvania, and Lorraine has a vision warning her about Judy.
Parents who cannot say no to a daughter in a hurry
Ed, Lorraine and Tony are guided to the Smurls, and Judy talks her reluctant parents into helping. Lorraine works out that a demon is pulling the strings of all three spirits, who include a husband that murdered his wife and her mother. The demon knocks Judy out. Ed and Lorraine then find the mirror and recognize the demon from their first case, which tells them it is hunting Judy. They cannot remove the mirror from the house, so the demon takes over Judy, gives Ed a cardiac episode, and attacks Lorraine in the basement.
A rope and a rescue, with prayer as the backup plan
Tony rescues Lorraine from the basement, and Ed recovers from his cardiac episode. This is the scene people dread: the possessed Judy tries to hang herself, and Ed cuts her down in time. It happens near the end, and Judy survives. Lorraine revives her with prayer, the same way she did when Judy was born. The demon attacks them again, and Ed fails to exorcise the mirror. Lorraine then tells Judy to stop hiding from her psychic abilities and to use them.
The ending, explained
The Warrens recite a prayer together, and it destroys the mirror. The Smurls stay in their house for three more years without another haunting, and the broken mirror ends up in the Warrens' occult museum. Ed, Lorraine, Judy and Tony all make it through. Sometime later, Ed walks Judy down the aisle at her wedding to Tony. While they dance at the reception, Lorraine tells Ed about a vision she had of their future, full of adventure and happy time spent with family.
The post-credits ruling
There is a scene after the credits. A picture of Ed appears, along with some facts.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, though he gets thrown at a wall.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Conjuring: Last Rites scary?
Yes, The Conjuring: Last Rites is a 6 out of 10 with medium dread. It has plenty of jump scares and a haunted mirror, and a few intense scenes near the end.
How does The Conjuring: Last Rites end?
The Warrens destroy the haunted mirror with a prayer, and Judy survives the possession. The Smurls live peacefully in their house afterward, and Judy marries Tony.
Does the dog die in The Conjuring: Last Rites?
No, the dog does not die in The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Smurls' dog Simon is thrown at a wall with a yelp, and the next few shots show him fine.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Conjuring: Last Rites?
Yes. After the credits finish in The Conjuring: Last Rites, a picture of Ed appears with some facts, so it is worth waiting if you want the extra.
What is in the mirror in The Conjuring: Last Rites?
The mirror holds the demon that Ed and Lorraine met in their first investigation in 1964. In The Conjuring: Last Rites the demon controls the three spirits haunting the Smurls and hunts Judy.
