On May 8, 2025, Warner Bros. released the official trailer for The Conjuring: Last Rites, marking the fourth and final film of the Conjuring Universe. This action packed chapter brings to the big screen one of Ed and Lorraine Warren’s most disturbing and emotionally grueling cases: the haunting of the Smurl family. Set five years after the events that unfolded in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the film is scheduled to hit the theaters on September 5, 2025. The franchise is planning to kick off spooky season a little early this year as the film dives into the chilling events that plagued the Pennsylvania family, mixing supernatural terror with emotional depth to close out the Warrens’ cinematic journey.

Directed by Michael Chaves, The Conjuring: Last Rites reunites Patrick Wilson as Ed Warren and Vera Farmiga as Lorraine Warren. Joining them are Mia Tomlinson as their daughter, Judy, and Ben Hardy as Judy’s partner, Tony Spera, creating a generational lens to the story as the Warrens’ legacy is explored from a fresh perspective. 

This final installment dives into more than just paranormal horrors. It explores the taxing emotional and psychological toll of the investigation on the Warrens themselves, highlighting themes of faith, sacrifice, and the burden that their job carries. As they confront their most formidable demonic force, they must also come to terms with their own vulnerabilities and the lasting effects of their life’s work.

As the title suggests, Last Rites serves as a sendoff, for both the Warrens and the actors who have portrayed them since the franchise began in 2013. Farmiga marked the end of filming in November 2024 with a heartfelt Instagram post celebrating her everlasting partnership with Wilson. Since its announcement in 2022, the film has been highly anticipated as the Warrens’ final cinematic showcase, making this farewell all the more sentimental and bittersweet.

Based on true events, the film dramatizes the haunting and paranormal activities experienced by the Smurl family in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, throughout the 1970s and 1980s. After moving into a duplex with Jack’s parents in 1973, Jack and Janet Smurl reported a series of unsettling disturbances such as: foul odors, unexplained noises, shadowy figures, levitations, and eventually violent assaults and even alleged sexual assaults. These phenomena began to escalate over the years, even allegedly following the family when they tried to relocate and escape which deepened their fear and desperation.

In 1986, the Smurls sought out help from Ed and Lorraine Warren, who concluded that there were four spirits that inhabited the home and one of them being a dangerously powerful demon. Despite multiple attempts of exorcisms and spiritual interventions, the haunting never stopped. The case grew to attract a lot of national media attention and sparked many heated debates between believers and skeptics, eventually being documented in the book The Haunted and a 1991 TV movie of the same name.

What made this case stand out the most for the Warrens was its persistent and ruthless intensity as well as the duration it took. The sheer range of phenomena—from violent physical attacks to agonizing psychological torment—made it one of the most, if not the most, challenging investigations of their career. Ed Warren described the entity as a truly malicious and destructive force that was bent on destroying the Smurl family. The deeply personal nature of the events, combined with the constant media bombardment and public skepticism, turned the case into a spiritual and public trial for the Warrens.

Since its debut in 2013, The Conjuring franchise has grown into a horror steamroller, creating multiple successful spin-offs and spawning a web of an interconnected universe rooted and established in real-life paranormal investigations.

The journey began with the pilot film, The Conjuring (2013), directed by James Wan, which introduced horror fans and audiences to Ed and Lorraine Warren as they investigated the Perron family haunting in Rhode Island. Receiving many high praises, the film redefined the haunted house horror genre and set a new gold standard for supernatural/paranormal horror.

Its sequel, The Conjuring 2 (2016), took the Warrens to England to confront and investigate the notorious Enfield poltergeist. This film deepened their emotional storyline, portraying the strength of their bonds and beliefs as they faced both a malevolent demon and public skepticism.

In The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), the series pivoted slightly from the haunted house genre and dove into the real-life criminal trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for killing his landlord, Alan Bono, but claimed demonic possession as a legal defense for murder. It marked the first time the Warrens’ work crossed paths and intersected directly with the U.S. legal system, offering a courtroom-meets-occult narrative and showing how their work can cause impact beyond the spiritual realm.

Alongside these main films, the franchise has also expanded through many spin-offs such as Annabelle, The Nun, and The Curse of La Llorona, building a rich, terrifying mythology and backstory around the Warrens’ occult museum and the cursed objects within it. But the heart of The Conjuring universe has always been Ed and Lorraine.

As The Conjuring: Last Rites prepares to close the curtain on over a decade of ghostly tales and haunting stories, it promises not just scares but a bittersweet farewell. By revisiting and looking into one of the most nightmarish chapters of the Warrens’ real-life legacy, the film aims to honor the enduring spirit of the Smurl family and the cultural impact of the franchise. With its early September release, Last Rites offers one last descent into darkness and a haunting tribute to two of horror’s most iconic figures.

For the true believers, the longtime fans, the ones who’ve stuck around through every bump in the night and flickering light, it’s the end of an era. One last case, one last haunting, and one last goodbye. Just like all good endings, it’s a little messy, a little haunted, and hard to walk away from.