The Conjuring: Last Rites Cast, Trailer, And Other Details That Have Me Spookily Excited For The Horror Sequel

The horror genre is about to bid farewell to two of its most popular heroic characters, Ed and Lorraine Warren, with the release of The Conjuring: Last Rites. However, fans of the long-running, blockbuster horror movie franchise should not fear, as this does not mean we have seen the last of the Conjuring Universe movies in order yet. Learn why, and more about this highly anticipated upcoming horror movie in our guide below.

What Is The Conjuring: Last Rites Release Date?

Spooky season is coming just a little earlier than usual this year because The Conjuring: Last Rites appears on our upcoming 2025 movies schedule with a release date of September 5, 2025. It will be predated by plenty of exciting horror sequels due in the summer, such as the June releases of 28 Years Later, showing more of the Rage Virus’s aftermath, and M3GAN 2.0, which brings back the dancing killer robot with a new agenda.

What The Conjuring: Last Rites Is About

As one could infer from its title, The Conjuring: Last Rites will serve as a curtain call for Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s portrayals of famed alleged demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. Farmiga reflected on this finale of sorts with an Instagram post commemorating her fake marriage to Wilson and the end of principal photography for the sequel in November 2024.

Fittingly, the Conjuring Universe’s final movie to feature the Warrens dramatizes one of their last high-profile cases, which is known as the Smurl Haunting. According to the New England Society for Psychic Research, Jack and Janet Smurl claimed, in 1986, that their family’s Pennsylvania duplex was inhabited by a vicious demon that terrorized them in various ways, including sexually molesting Janet. The case was previously depicted in a Golden Globe-nominated TV movie called The Haunted from 1991, which was based on a book the Smurls penned with the Warrens and writer Robert Curran.

The Conjuring: Last Rites Trailer Introduces A Terrifying Villain For The Warrens To Face

In an exclusive first look at The Conjuring: Last Rites from Entertainment Weekly, director Michael Chaves says that the film introduces “the darkest thing we've ever seen in the series.” Well, the sequel’s official trailer corroborates that claim quite effectively just by the sight of its central, demonic antagonist. Watch the clip below and bear witness to this metaphysical monster if you dare:

The Conjuring: Last Rites | Official Teaser - YouTube

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I typically balk at horror movie trailers that show what we are supposed to be afraid of instead of saving it for the film (a sin previous Conjuring movie promos have committed). However, I must admit that grim, grinning demon face really got under my skin and actually makes me interested in seeing more of it when the film hits theaters.

The Conjuring: Last Rites Cast

Two of modern cinema’s most iconic horror movie actors are reprising the roles that earned them that honor in the Conjuring: Last Rites cast, but they are not alone. See who the newcomers are portraying, as well as what they and the franchise veterans are also known for.

Patrick Wilson (Ed Warren)

Patrick Wilson first worked with director James Wan on another haunted house movie favorite, 2011’s Insidious, two years before he first portrayed Ed Warren in 2013’s The Conjuring. The Emmy nominee also has superhero movies under his belt (Wan’s Aquaman films), tried his hand at directing horror with Insidious: The Red Door, and is diving into a different shade of the genre by starring in an upcoming Apple TV+ series based on Cape Fear.

Vera Farmiga (Lorraine Warren)

Vera Farmiga was already well on her way to Scream Queen status when she was cast as Ed Warren’s medium wife, Lorraine, having previously starred 2009’s Orphan and A&E’s Psycho prequel series, Bates Motel as Norma Bates. The Academy Award nominee (for Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air) does not seem to have any future horror titles on the horizon, but is set to star in a movie about the Heaven’s Gate cult called The Leader, which is a pretty unsettling topic.

Mia Tomlinson (Judy Warren)

Mia Tomlinson makes her feature film debut in The Conjuring: Last Rites as the Warren’s daughter, Judy, who was previously portrayed as a child by Sterling Jerins and McKenna Grace. According to Deadline, the British actor could previously be seen in dramatized sequences Netflix’s The Lost Pirate Kingdom, as well as a TV show called The Beast Must Die, and short films called Bandits and The Mediator.

Ben Hardy (Tony Spera)

Judy Warren’s boyfriend (and real-life future husband), Tony Spera, is played by fellow Brit Ben Hardy. The last time the actor portrayed an actual person was when he starred in the music biopic Bohemian Rhapsody as Queen Drummer Roger Taylor and, before then, was best known for the U.K. soap opera EastEnders and playing Angel in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Rebecca Calder (Janet Smurl)

Portraying alleged haunting victim Janet Smurl is Rebecca Calder, whom one might recognize from the Guy Ritchie movie Wrath of Man and House of the Dragon as “Dragon Keeper Elder.” The English actor is also no stranger to horror, having appeared in the 2021 werewolf flick, The Cursed.

Elliot Cowan (Jack Smurl)

Janet’s husband, Jack, is being played by Elliot Cowan, who also did a werewolf movie in 2015 called Howl, but was better known then for appearing in Oliver Stone’s Alexander. More recently, the English actor was seen in Apple TV+’s Foundation and Netflix’s The Crown.

Kíla Lord Cassidy (Heather Smurl)

Jack and Janet’s daughter Heather, is played by Kíla Lord Cassidy, who is making her horror debut with The Conjuring: Last Rites. However, the actor has already experienced a variety of genres in her career, such as action with The Doorman and period dramas with Netflix’s The Wonder.

Beau Gadsdon (Dawn Smurl)

Another Smurl daughter, Dawn, is portrayed by Beau Gadson, who debuted as a young Jyn Erso in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story two years before playing a young Lisbeth Salander in The Girl in the Spider’s Web. She would later play a young Enid in the 2021 horror movie, Censor, young Princess Margaret on Netflix’s The Crown, and young Elizabeth in Robert Zemeckis’ Here.

Tilly Walker (Carin Smurl)

Tilly Walker makes her feature debut in The Conjuring: Last Rites as one of Jack and Janet’s younger daughters, Carin, is Tilly Walker. She has previously appeared in episodes of the English mystery series, C.B. Strike, and BBC’s The Famous Five.

Molly Cartwright (Shannon Smurl)

Playing Carin’s twin sister, Shannon, is Molly Cartwright, who is making her screen acting debut in the horror film. She also has a horror-comedy movie in the works called The Scurry.

Michael Chaves Is Directing The Conjuring: Last Rites

The aforementioned Michael Chaves returns to helm The Conjuring: Last Rites after previously directing the third installment, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Before then, he made his directorial debut overseeing one of the spin-off features, The Curse of La Llorona, in 2019.

David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, who co-wrote The Conjuring 2 and went solo on The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, returned to pen this fourth installment, along with The Nun II scribes Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing. Johnson-McGoldrick is also a producer on the film, alongside the director of many great horror movies (including 2013’s The Conjuring), James Wan, and Peter Safran.

Last Rites Concludes The Conjuring Universe's "Phase One”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter from April 2025, New Line Cinema president Richard Brener builds upon Michael Chavez’s comments to SlashFilm from 2023, in which he claimed that The Conjuring: Last Rites was the grand finale to the franchise. He assures that the sequel actually marks the end of the franchise’s “Phase One.”

That appears to be a Marvel-esque way of announcing that there are more ghosts and demons to expect beyond the release of Last Rites. Brener does not reveal any specifics about what “Phase Two” may entail, but we do know that there is one forthcoming installment in the works.

There Is Also A Conjuring TV Show Spin-Off In Development

In 2023, Variety reported that there were plans to continue the Conjuring Universe on the small screen with a spin-off series. There is still no word on what the upcoming horror TV show is about, specifically, nor has it been revealed when it will become available to stream with a Max subscription.

How To Watch The Previous Conjuring Movies

Before the Warrens’ cinematic legacy comes to an end with The Conjuring: Last Rites, relive the previous installments of the franchise. Most of them are among the best horror movies on Max, while The Conjuring 2 is currently only available to rent.

How to watch the Conjuring Movies

I, for one, am looking forward to seeing how The Conjuring: Last Rites wraps up the Warrens’ story when it haunts theaters this fall!