What actually happens
The first scene is also the worst scene
The movie opens in 1956 at a church in Tarascon, France, where Father Noiret and his altar boy Jacques are going about their daily chores. Noiret goes to look into a disturbance, is lifted into the air and set on fire, and burns to death while Jacques watches in terror. That is the scene to brace for, and it is the opening one. Sister Irene is now living at a convent in Italy, four years after what happened at Saint Cartha's monastery. Maurice has a job at a Tarascon boarding school, and he has made friends with a young Irish student named Sophie and with her mother Kate, who teaches there. Irene sees a vision in which Maurice pleads with her to rescue him. The Cardinal sends her to investigate deaths across Europe blamed on Valak, and Irene takes Sister Debra, a novice, along to Tarascon.
Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.
A stained-glass goat with a schedule
In Tarascon, Valak haunts Irene. Jacques gives Debra Noiret's rosary. At school, Sophie is bullied by her classmates and locked inside the sealed chapel, which is no longer consecrated. One bully points to the goat in the stained-glass window and tells her that the devil shows up when sunlight hits the glass and turns the goat's eyes red. That night the headmistress runs into Maurice, who works at the school and is sleepwalking, and Valak kills her.
A librarian with excellent footnotes
Irene and Debra go to the Palais des Papes and meet a librarian. He tells them Valak is an angel that God rejected. The symbol on Noiret's rosary belongs to the crest of St. Lucy's family. Lucy was martyred during the Diocletianic persecution, and she was set on fire and miraculously did not burn, and although her eyes were gouged out, her family recovered them. The librarian thinks the demon is hunting St. Lucy's descendants and wants that powerful relic, last stored in a former monastery that became a winery and is now the boarding school.
The flashlight does most of the exorcism
At the school, Irene and Debra confront a possessed Maurice. They shine a flashlight through the stained-glass goat so that its eyes glow red. The red light works like a laser and points to the spot where St. Lucy's eyes are buried. Once Irene has found the relic, the goat vanishes from the window and turns up again as a demonic creature in real life, which is a bad sign for a room that already holds a possessed man.
The ending, explained
Maurice follows Sophie up the bell tower and attacks her, and the tower collapses. Valak appears, lifts Irene into the air and sets her on fire, just as Noiret was. Irene does not burn, because she is a descendant of St. Lucy and can use the power of the relic, which annoys Valak. Irene and Debra pray the Words of Institution, the old wine barrels around them turn into the blood of Christ, and the demon is banished, which also frees Maurice from the possession. The following morning Irene watches Maurice stroll alongside Sophie and Kate, and she looks concerned.
The post-credits ruling
Yes, there is a scene during the credits, so stay seated if you want to see it.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: no dog in this one.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Nun II scary?
The Nun II scores 5 out of 10 with a medium dread level. The fear is mostly jump scares.
How does The Nun II end?
Irene and Debra banish Valak with the relic and a prayer, which frees Maurice. Irene is set on fire but does not burn, and she looks worried the next morning.
Does the dog die in The Nun II?
There is no dog in The Nun II, so no dog dies.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Nun II?
Yes. The Nun II has a scene during the credits, so stay seated if you want to see it.
Why doesn't Sister Irene burn in The Nun II?
Irene is a descendant of St. Lucy, who was set on fire without burning. Once Irene finds the relic, she can use the power it carries, which Valak does not like.
