{"id":203472,"date":"2025-09-05T23:02:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T23:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/203472\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T23:02:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T23:02:17","slug":"last-rites-in-theaters-rent-nobody-2-stream-friendship-on-hulu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/203472\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Rites’ in theaters, rent ‘Nobody 2,’ stream ‘Friendship’ on Hulu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello, Yahoo readers! My name is Brett Arnold<\/a>, film critic and longtime Yahoo editor, and I\u2019m back with another edition of Trust Me, I Watch Everything<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s a particularly fun week, with a pair of really good indies hitting theaters alongside the fourth entry in the popular The Conjuring horror\u00a0franchise. At home, The Naked Gun and Nobody 2, two movies that I recommended when they hit theaters, are now available to rent or buy.<\/p>\n

On streaming services you’re likely already paying for, the Tim Robinson-Paul Rudd A24 comedy Friendship hits HBO Max, and Spike Lee’s new film and fifth collaboration with Denzel Washington, Highest 2 Lowest, makes its way to Apple TV+ after a limited theatrical run.<\/p>\n

Read on, because that’s not all, and there’s always something here for everyone.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa5 What to watch in theaters<\/strong>My recommendation:<\/strong> The Conjuring: Last Rites<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why you should watch it:<\/strong> The fourth entry in the very successful mainline Conjuring franchise is actually the *ninth* entry in the overall Conjuring Universe \u2014 or 10th, even, depending on whether you count The Curse of La Llorona, which made a half-assed late-in-the-game effort of connecting to the larger world of these films. There are multiple actual spinoffs, though, that include three Annabelle films and a pair of Nuns.<\/p>\n

Even outside the series, the haunted-house-meets-exorcism concept is pretty generic and well-trodden territory. Ever since The Exorcist hit movie screens and set box office records back in 1973, we’ve been inundated with 50-plus years of imitators of varying quality, to the point where “ripoffs of The Exorcist” is a horror sub-genre that still sports a few entries a year.<\/p>\n

\"Vera<\/p>\n

Vera Farmiga and Mia Tomlinson in The Conjuring: Last Rites (Courtesy of WB\/Everett Collection)<\/p>\n

I say all that to say, it’s impressive how much The Conjuring: Last Rites works, given these parameters. There are several set pieces in the film that are creepy and tense and effective, and others that are simply incredibly well-executed jump scares \u2014 at least one of them actually got my butt out of the seat.<\/p>\n

It’s a major improvement on the third installment, The Devil Made Me Do It, which focused more on a court case, as the series goes back to its roots here and follows a family in a spooky haunted house situation that needs the Warrens to show up and sort things out. The (in)famous paranormal investigators take on one last terrifying case involving mysterious entities they must confront from their past.<\/p>\n

\"Mia<\/p>\n

Mia Tomlinson in The Conjuring: Last Rites. (Courtesy of WB\/Everett Collection)<\/p>\n

These movies are all based on real-life cases that the Warrens investigated, and this one is no different, dramatizing and Hollywood-ifying the story of the Smurls from West Pittston, Pennsylvania. The “this time, it’s personal” story here involves the Warrens’ daughter Judy and adds an emotional center that these things usually don’t have \u2014 and I’ll be damned if I didn’t find it kind of endearing, even if this movie-sanitized version of the Warrens is portrayed softer and more angelic than their real-life extremely controversial <\/a>counterparts. I also enjoyed seeing Patrick Wilson’s Ed Warren in corny dad mode, razzing his daughter’s new beau.<\/p>\n

Simply put, the movie delivers where it needs to to recommend to fans of the series and the genre, though it does feel way too long, at a not-so-brisk 135 minutes, with an endless second act. The earlier entries may have also been fairly epic in length, but you never really felt it as much as you do here. It doesn’t do anything new, but it does what the franchise does well to such a degree that it leaves a good impression after a lackluster previous entry and ends things on a high-enough note.<\/p>\n

What other critics are saying:<\/strong> It’s a pretty even split. William Bibbiani at TheWrap writes<\/a>, “As a scary movie, The Conjuring: Last Rites is a generic film, neither good nor bad. It\u2019s practically begging audiences to judge it on a ‘pass\/fail’ basis. As the conclusion of the ‘Conjuring’ series, it\u2019s a little more successful, but not much.” Variety’s J. Kim Murphy<\/a> says “the story ends up on-rails and the stakes seem smaller than ever, despite a bloated, franchise-high runtime. That this highly derivative horror series bottoms out by over-investing in the Warrens is a sure sign that it is well past its utility.” Hard to argue with either!<\/p>\n

How to watch: <\/strong>The Conjuring: Last Rites is now in theaters nationwide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Get tickets<\/a><\/p>\n

Bonus recommendation: <\/strong>Twinless<\/p>\n

Why you should watch it:<\/strong> What starts as a clever premise quickly evolves into something darker.<\/p>\n

The short and spoiler-free synopsis is as follows: Two young men (Dylan O’Brien and James Sweeney) meet in a twin bereavement support group and form an unlikely bromance.\u00a0The idea of two twins, having both lost their other halves, searching for their own identity as they continue to live on, is so trenchant and emotional in itself. By the time the movie pulls a bait and switch and subverts that idea, it turns into a tragic thriller of sorts.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Dylan O’Brien, James Sweeney in Twinless (Courtesy of Roadside Attractions\/Courtesy Everett Collection)<\/p>\n

O’Brien gives not just one but two of the best performances this year playing twins, one of whom is only seen in flashback, but the movie’s well-conceived structure is such that they both get tons of screen time. Sweeney, who also writes and directs, is great too, but O’Brien really stands out due to just how different the two characters he’s playing are. It’s a star-making turn, for me at least, having never seen a Maze Runner movie.<\/p>\n

It’s as dark and twisted as it is earnest, emotional and funny, a tricky combo pulled off with gusto here by Sweeney. The writing is so smart, and the movie always feels one step ahead of you, which is such an enchanting and rare quality. Twinless is worth seeking out.<\/p>\n

What other critics are saying:<\/strong> It’s one of the best-reviewed movies of the year thus far! Lovia Gyarkye of the Hollywood Reporter<\/a> writes that “Sweeney walks a tightrope, shifting between dry humor, gutting devastation and emotional poignancy with varying degrees of success. But even when Twinless falters, it always steadies itself and succeeds in other ways.” The Guardian’s Ben Lee<\/a> writes, “For all of its themes of identical mental and physical connection, Twinless is a true original.”<\/p>\n

How to watch: <\/strong>Twinless\u00a0<\/strong>is now in theaters<\/a>, in limited release.<\/p>\n

Get tickets<\/a><\/p>\n

But that’s not all…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ruby<\/p>\n

Ruby Cruz, Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King in The Threesome. (Vertical Entertainment\/ Courtesy Everett Collection)<\/p>\n