The Conjuring franchise doesn’t exactly make it easy to follow a strict timeline, but that’s kind of how folklore works, right? The way we remember the past isn’t linear, but comprised of a series of memories and events that float around until we pry one out. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren helm most of the series, and even when they don’t, the movies always tie back to the Warrens in some way — whether it’s a cursed object in their artifact room or an origin story for one of their cases.
It’s easy to chalk up any inconsistencies in thehorrorfranchise to murky memory and the difficulty of piecing every component of the Warrens’ case files in exact order. So, how exactly do we parse out the timeline in the franchise to watch it in chronological order? Most of the films center around the ‘70s, butAnnabelleCreationkicks things off in the early ‘40s. Meanwhile,The Devil Made Me Do Itmarks the franchise’s first foray into the ‘80s.
But what about the flashback sequences in the movies? Unless people want to toggle back and forth between each movie dozens of times, it’s probably best to watch the films in the chronological order that the bulk of the movie takes place in rather than switching back between stories in what would be a pretty chaotic rewatch. So, here’s how fans can watch the movies in order without giving themselves too much of a headache.
The Nun - 1952
The Nunis arguably the scariest film inThe Conjuringuniverse, with an unending slew of terrifying religious iconography. The bulk of the franchise takes place in the States, but here, fans head over to Romania in 1952 (though the creepy backdrop makes it feel much older).The Nungives us the backstory to the series’ most terrifying demon: Valek. Not even a group of nuns can contain this evil — nor can our protagonists Father Burke (Demián Bichir) or Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga). We also haveThe Nunto thank for Valek’s disturbing appearance as a demonic nun with a sickly white complexion. Can someone get this dude to a dermatologist?
At the end of the movie, we jump to 1971, when the Warrens show a familiar exorcism during a lecture. And if there’s one thingThe Conjuringfranchise knows how to do, it’s playing the long game for setting up future stories way ahead of time.
Annabelle Creation - 1955
It’s probably best to avoid conjuring the spirit of your deceased child and whammying what you think is their ghost into a creepy-looking doll. But grief can do strange things to people.Annabelle Creationkicks off with the grisly origin story of Annabelle, starting with the death of the Mullins family’s daughter in 1943.
We swiftly cut to 12 years later and meet a group of orphans that pay the price for the actions of the grieving family as the young girls fight off the demonic presence. The story then heads over to 1967, where we see the ripple effect that one bad choice can have on a group of kids and the world at large.
Though the film technically starts before the events ofThe Nun, the majority of the movie is in 1955, which is two years afterThe Nun— even though the post-credits scene teasesThe Nun. Wedidsay it was a confusing timeline…
The Nun 2- 1956
Goodbye Romania and hello France. Sister Irene is back to fight Valek again inThe Nun 2, which takes place in 1956. But this time, home base is in a French school for girls. Here, we get an even deeper look into Valek’s origin story and just might see a familiar possessed face in the process. And really, what’s life without another nun ghost circle?
Annabelle - 1967
The first Annabelle-centric movie fans watched in the release order is the doll’s self-titled film. Despite the movie’s opening scene paying homage to the opener ofThe Conjuring,Annabellefeels least connected to the lore of the coreConjuringfranchise. The fact that the opening scene takes place after the events of the film certainly doesn’t help fans follow the confusing timeline.Annabelledoesn’t pose nearly as many scares as the rest of the films while the movie follows a young couple and their newborn. Ever a family man, the demon Malthus tries to take the baby’s pure soul, all while wearing his favorite wooden suit as Annabelle the doll.
The Conjuring - 1971
Fans’ first foray into this expansive universe wasThe Conjuring— which centers around the Perron family in 1971. Naturally, the family makes the deadly decision to move to a creepy house in the middle of nowhere, where they’re tortured by the spirit of a witch named Bathsheba. Add in a possession and exorcism and you’ve got yourself a perfect horror movie (although the exorcism is a tad ridiculous to take seriously).
Annabelle Comes Home - 1972
The kids arenotalright. PSA to all babysitters out there: Do not let your bestie crash your babysitting gig. Nothing good can come from it. To kick offAnnabelle Comes Home, we see an extended scene fromThe Conjuringopener (again), where the Warrens take Annabelle from the traumatized nurses and lock her up in their cursed artifacts room.
Naturally, Babysitter’s Best Friend decides to mess around in the artifact room when Judy Warren’s babysitter is looking after the Warrens’ daughter. Naturally, Annabelle comes out to play — while bringing along a posse of her supernatural friends. It’s a real party up in the Warren house. The film teases quite a few possible spinoffs down the line with entities like the hellhound and the ferryman.
We also get some screen time with La Llorona — which helps connectThe Curse of La LloronatoThe Conjuringuniverse. Fans would have seenLa Lloronaa few months beforeAnnabelle Comes Home, but its status in the shared universe was much more subtle until this cameo.
The Curse of La Llorona - 1973
LikeAnnabelle,The Curse of La Lloronais fairly disconnected from the rest of the franchise. The Warrens don’t even make a brief cameo, after all. Ironically enough, the major component that ties the movie toThe Conjuring UniverseisAnnabellecharacter Father Perez’s cameo — though many fans don’t consider his plot to be canon inThe Conjuringuniverse.
The film’s version of the legend of La Llorona begins in 1673, when a mother snaps and drowns her children in a river in Mexico — only to drown herself after realizing the horrors of her action. Based on a real Mexican tale, La Llorona is earthbound as she endlessly roams the earth to find her sons.
Cut to 1973 in LA, when La Llorona sets her sights on a mother named Patricia Alvares and her two sons as the deadly spirit tries to repeat her own tragic history with new families. Really, is killing your own kids not enough? You’ve got to bring other families into it as well?
The Conjuring 2 - 1977
Chronologically, we’ve gone through quite a few movies to get to the sequel toThe Conjuring, which was the third film in the franchise’s release order. The Warrens are UK-bound when they get a call to help the Hodgson family — based on the Warrens’ heavily disputed Enfield Poltergeist case. Of course, that pesky Valek is up to no good once again, with a few possessions and causing mayhem for the Hodgson family.
The film also references the Warrens’ notorious Amityville case and teases The Crooked Man, who was initially supposed to get his own movie.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It - 1981
Step aside, “The dog ate my homework.” There’s a new excuse in town: The devil made me do it. But beware: using that line on your unsuspecting teacher just might land you in a padded cell (or an exorcism if you go to Catholic school).
Welcome to the ‘80s,Conjuringfans. The Warrens are back at it with another case from the real-life paranormal investigators’ expansive resumé. The film kicks off with the exorcism of a child named David Glatzel, but instead of casting the demon out, David’s sister’s boyfriend opts to be the vessel instead of the young boy.
Naturally, grisly murders follow Arne’s offering to host the demon and we head into a murder trial with the totally reasonable defense of “the devil made me do it.” Weirdly enough, the movie’s premise is based on the real-life murder trial of Arne Johnson. So, let’s find out if demonic possession is as effective of a defense in 1981 as it would have been hundreds of years prior. Common sense says: Outlook not so good.
Now that we’ve got the chronological order down, what about watching the films in release order?
While watchingThe Conjuringfranchise in chronological order certainly helps fans follow the timeline, it’s worthwhile to watch the films in release order at least once. When it comes to movie openers and post-credits scenes, the release order makes the most sense to tease and give snippets of what’s to come. It’s also fun to see how the earlier films teased movies in the franchise years before they were even announced.
Those Easter eggs are a lot more exciting to discover in release order. If it’s your first time diving into the universe, some fans might even argue that you should watch the release order first to get the organic unfolding that OG fans watched (much like people suggest of theStar Warsfranchise).
So, what exactly is that order?
The Conjuring(2013)
Annabelle(2014)
The Conjuring 2(2016)
Annabelle Creation(2017)
The Nun(2018)
The Curse of La Llorona(2019)
Annabelle Comes Home(2019)
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It(2021)
The Nun IIpremieres in theatres on September 8th! See it at Regal.
