Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
is the third installment in the Annabelle series and part of The Conjuring universe, directed by Gary Dauberman. The film picks up after the events of The Conjuring (2013), with Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) taking the possessed Annabelle doll to their home and locking it away in their artifact room, hoping to contain the evil it brings. However, when the Warrens go away on a case, their daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace), along with her babysitter and her friend, inadvertently unleash the malevolent spirit trapped inside the doll, leading to terrifying consequences.
The film shifts focus from Annabelle herself to the chaos she causes, with the doll being just one of many terrifying entities the Warrens have contained. As the supernatural events unfold, the film dives into the dangers of meddling with the occult and the powerful forces that are unleashed when these artifacts are disturbed. Annabelle Comes Home maintains the tension and atmosphere of the series, mixing creepy, slow-building suspense with intense jump scares.
The performances, especially from Mckenna Grace as Judy, are solid, and the film does well to incorporate the Conjuring universe lore while offering a new story. While not as critically praised as some of the other Conjuring films, Annabelle Comes Home still delivers on its promise of supernatural horror, with plenty of frightening moments, creepy imagery, and a sense of urgency as the characters fight to survive the chaos unleashed by the doll.
