THE CONJURING 2 (2016) Review

James Wan’s The Conjuring 2 reminds us once again that fear is not spatial but an emotional form of infiltration. Focusing on the story of a mother and her children surrounded by poverty and loneliness in a foggy London suburb, this sequel may seem like a “haunting story” at first glance, but when viewed through a woman’s eyes, it offers a much deeper text: a narrative about the invisible layers of the female experience, the fragile resistance of motherhood, and the burden of faith.

The Conjuring 2 shows that not only supernatural beings, but also systemic disregard and the patriarchal structure loom over women like a ghost. Peggy Hodgson, a single mother of four children at the center of the film, must struggle with both the economic and social pressures of the real world and an inexplicable threat from the afterlife. This is a familiar dilemma for women: Carrying invisible burdens while constantly having to prove their “reality.”

Peggy’s loneliness is not just physical. For women, poverty often means isolation, a lack of voice, and a loss of credibility in the face of authority. Neighbors, the school board, even the press—all see Peggy as a potential “hysterical mother.” This is a familiar story of how women’s historical reality has been constantly questioned, their emotions pathologized. A mother’s cry is only considered “real” when a ghost is present.

At the other end of this narrative is Lorraine Warren, another female figure who acts on her intuition and possesses a quiet but profound power. Lorraine’s intuitive wisdom becomes an undeniable authority even in the male-dominated world of paranormal investigation. Her presence reveals how powerful women’s ways of “knowing” are—intuition, empathy, connection. This intuitive wisdom embodies the “personal is political” notion that we often encounter in feminist epistemologies.

The film’s horror aesthetic often bears traces of the gothic tradition: old houses, secret pasts, repressed desires. It is not for nothing that this Gothic atmosphere has historically been intertwined with women’s narratives. While women are usually “captive” figures in Gothic structures, The Conjuring 2 reverses this structure: women are no longer just victims, but subjects who analyze, carry and transform the story.

The way the demon Valak is shaped—her disguise as a nun—contains another allegorical touch on the female body. The sanctity of femininity, the suppression of faith and sexuality are re-embodied in this character in a grotesque form. This fearful figure, wrapped in religious symbols, represents the control that patriarchal belief systems have over the female body.

The Conjuring 2 is a powerful narrative that proves that fear is not only a supernatural experience, but also a social and gendered one. The struggle of the female characters with both the ghosts within themselves and the silence that surrounds them offers the audience not only terror, but also deep empathy. Peggy’s loneliness, Lorraine’s intuition, and Valak’s grotesqueness—they all represent different dimensions of being a woman. Sometimes she’s a mother, sometimes a prophet, and sometimes a suppressed scream.

And maybe that’s why The Conjuring 2 is horror at its quietest yet most familiar: a ghost whispering things a woman believes in but can’t tell anyone.

#TheConjuring

My Score 8/10

Fin