THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT
An absorbing Christian horror thriller meant for discerning adults.
Should You Watch It?
This is a scary but absorbing thrill ride. The performances are excellent, especially Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren and John Noble as a retired priest. The mystery structure adds momentum to the supernatural horror, while prayer, Scripture, and Christian opposition to demonic forces give the story a strong moral center.
But the R rating matters. The movie includes creepy and frightening moments, bloody violence, foul language, and powerful occult imagery. Its Catholic demon-hunting heroes also accept some occult beliefs and use some occult or non-religious methods in their fight against Satanic powers.
Adults who appreciate well-made horror and can engage its spiritual themes with discernment may find real value here. It is not suitable for children or young teens. For discerning adults, WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESLoosely based on a controversial 1981 case, this horror mystery follows two married Catholic demonologists helping a young Connecticut man suffering under a demonic curse. A powerful Satanist has hidden away in a secret lair, and the Warrens must find the source of the evil before it destroys more lives.
The case leads them through demonic attacks, a nearby double homicide, and a dangerous investigation filled with jeopardy.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is a highly effective, well-made thriller. It is intense, suspenseful, and absorbing, with excellent performances. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga bring strength to the Warrens, while John Noble is especially effective as the retired priest they consult.
The movie also works as a mystery as well as a supernatural horror story. Its central Christian themes, prayers, biblical citations, and emphasis on sacrificial love give the frightening material a meaningful moral framework.
The Worldview
The film presents a strong Christian, biblical, and moral worldview. Its central characters pray, cite Scripture, call in a church exorcist, consult a retired priest, and receive help from a prison chaplain who recites the Lord’s Prayer. Christian characters oppose demonic forces rather than treating evil as harmless or imaginary.
The film’s strongest spiritual idea is that sacrificial love is a source of strength. Lorraine Warren tells her husband, “Our love is our strength,” rejecting the Satanist’s belief that their love is a weakness. The story also presents prayer, holy water, Scripture, and the church’s ministry as meaningful responses to evil.
However, the movie mixes these Christian elements with strong occult content. The Catholic lay exorcists seem to accept some occult beliefs and apply occult or non-religious methods, including physically destroying a Satanic altar. Lorraine is portrayed as something of a psychic clairvoyant, and the characters believe Satan will take the villain’s soul if the curse fails.
The real-life Warrens were controversial. Some skeptics believed they were well-meaning but deceptive, and they apparently held occult explanations for ghosts and other theologically aberrant ideas. The movie does not address those issues.
The film’s longing for love that conquers evil connects with Jesus’ words: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Very strong Christian, biblical, moral worldview in story set in 1981 where two lay professional exorcists who identify as Roman Catholic but aren’t officially members of the clergy are trying to find and stop a Satanist who’s using a Satanic curse to send demonic powers to attack an 8-year-old boy and then attack the adult sister’s boyfriend when he tells the demon to possess him and leave the boy alone, and story includes Christian prayer, the two Catholic laymen exorcists use prayer, call in a church exorcist, consult with a retired priest, and get help from a prison chaplain who recites the Lord’s Prayer during a climactic demonic attack and gives a prisoner a bottle of holy water to stop demonic attacks trying to force him to commit suicide, and the Catholic laymen and other characters recite or cite Scripture, plus the Catholic ultimately rely on the redemptive power of their love to help them defeat the Satanist (the wife says the Satanist villain thinks the love she shares with her husband is a weakness but says the villain is wrong, adding, “Our love is our strength”), but there’s strong occult content in the movie and the two Catholic laymen seem to accept some occult beliefs and apply some occult or non-religious methods in their fight against the Satanist villain and the villain’s Satanic curses (for example, they decide they must eventually physically destroy the Satanist’s altar to break the Satanist’s demonic curse, the wife is something of a psychic clairvoyant, and they believe that Satan will take the villain’s soul if her curse fails to kill a little boy or the young man who invited the demon to attack him instead of the boy)
Foul Language
Six obscenities (one “s” word, a “d” word in the context of going to Hell and some “h” words), two strong Jesus profanities, and seven light profanities, but two OMG profanities are borderline and are more like prayers of thanksgiving to God when a person is finally saved from harm and one “oh dear God” appears to be an appeal to God
Violence
Three instances of very strong bloody violence include Satanic villain attacks a person from behind and slits the person’s throat, a man is stabbed to death, and there is a bloody image of his dead body, and the perpetrator has bloody hands and a bloody shirt when he’s picked up by police, and many instances of intense, strong and often spooky violence involving a Satanic curse and demonic illusions and attacks such as a dead corpse attacks two Christians fighting a Satanic villain, people are given illusions or put into trance illusions and attack people but they think they’re demons, a demon tries to grab a woman and pull her off a cliff and into a deep lake, villain taps into Satanic and demonic powers and tries to force young man to kill himself, demon overcomes young boy in his room during a pause in an exorcism, and the family tries to take him downstairs, and the demons claws damage the stairway as the boy fights, poltergeist demon breaks windows in a hospital ward where a prisoner is being held on suicide watch, demon inside a busted water bed tries to grab young boy, the villain tries to stab the main Christian heroine, but she manages to hit the villain on the head with a rock, and a demonic illusion conjured by the villain causes Christian Catholic man to use a sledgehammer to attack his wife who he thinks is the villain, etc.
Sex
No sex, but a retired priest admits he has an out-of-wedlock daughter who was born early in his priestly career
Nudity
Some upper male nudity when a Satanist working from a Satanic altar in a hidden lair uses demonic powers to animate a male corpse to attack two Christians trying to stop the Satanist and later uses the powers to create an illusion of the corpse attacking
Alcohol Use
Alcohol use in an early scene in which one character appears drunk
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
Brief smoking in one scene but no drugs;
Miscellaneous Immorality
The two married Christian exorcists fighting the Satanist break into a morgue so the wife can clairvoyantly get some clues from the corpse of a murdered teenager in a similar case engineered by the Satanist villain.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The Warrens face evil through prayer, Scripture, and the help of the church. What practices help you turn toward God when you are afraid?
Psalm 46:1–3 · James 5:13Lorraine says, “Our love is our strength.” How can sacrificial love protect and strengthen a marriage or family?
John 15:13 · Ephesians 5:25The film mixes Christian practices with occult ideas. Why does Scripture call believers to test spiritual claims carefully?
1 John 4:1 · Acts 17:11The story involves a young man blamed for a violent act while others argue that demonic forces influenced him. How should Christians think about spiritual evil and personal responsibility?
Ephesians 6:11–12 · Ezekiel 18:20The Final Word
This is a polished, suspenseful horror mystery with excellent performances and unusually strong Christian themes. Its bloody violence, foul language, and occult content make it unsuitable for children and young teens. Discerning adults who can handle those elements may find WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For family viewing, choose something else.
