If you’re just coming back from seeing The Nun 2 in theaters, or if you’re waiting for its inevitable streaming debut, then you don’t have to wait to watch something else that can give your horror fix. The trope of malevolent female ghosts or demons is actually pretty common, and it’s certainly fitting in this case. But those weren’t the only factors we had in mind when putting together this list of similar movies. Sometimes, the themes and tone of horror films are a more effective way to find alternatives than simply looking for movies with the exact same premise.
So for anyone who is looking for a scare in the comfort of your own home, these are the five horror movies like The Nun 2 that you should watch.
The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
Perhaps the most natural choice for a movie like The Nun 2 would be The Nun. But in the other Conjuring universe flicks, the next film that is similar to The Nun 2 is The Curse of La Llorona, which features a menacing female apparition who murdered her children centuries ago. In 1973, a social worker named Anna (Linda Cardellini) performs a welfare check on Patricia Alvarez (Patricia Velásquez) and inadvertently leaves Patricia’s children vulnerable to La Llorona (Marisol Ramirez).
When Patricia’s children inevitably end up dead, La Llorona turns her attention to Anna’s children, Chris (Roman Christou) and Samantha (Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen), as well as to Anna herself. And the only hope that Anna has to save her family is to find a way to break the curse that holds Llorona in this world.
Watch The Curse of La Llorona on Max.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2018)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is not a traditional horror film, but it does adapt Shirley Jackson’s famous novel of the same name. Taissa Farmiga and Alexandra Daddario headline the movies as sisters Merricat and Constance Blackwood. Years earlier, Constance was put on trial for murdering her parents, and she remains ostracized from their hometown despite her acquittal. Since Constance and her physically disabled uncle, Julian Blackwood (Crispin Glover), refuse to leave their home, Merricat tries to practice magic to provide protection for the family, especially for her sister.
When the sisters’ cousin, Charles Blackwood (Sebastian Stan), arrives with nefarious intentions, Merricat discovers that someone has destroyed her magical wards. And in her anger and mistrust, Merricat may bring about the final destruction of her family.
Watch We Have Always Lived in the Castle on Prime Video.
The Woman in Black (2012)
Who is the Woman in Black? That’s the question that Daniel Radcliffe’s Arthur Kipps attempts to answer in The Woman in Black. At the turn of the century in England, Arthur comes to a small village to retrieve some legal documents. What he finds is the Woman in Black (Liz White), an apparition who lures the local children to their deaths. And since Arthur is found near the latest victims, suspicion soon falls on him.
Arthur finds himself overwhelmed by this turn of events. But he soon realizes that the Woman in Black won’t stop killing children, and her next target may be his own son, Joseph (Misha Handley).
Watch The Woman in Black on Paramount+.
Saint Maud (2019)
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s Morfydd Clark headlines Saint Maud as the title character, a nurse who was once named Katie. After losing one of her patients, Maud becomes devoutly religious and starts working as a private caregiver for Amanda Köhl (Jennifer Ehle). Maud is horrified to learn that Amanda is an atheist, and she goes to great lengths to save Amanda’s soul. She even tries to drive off Amanda’s girlfriend, Carol (Lily Frazer).
Maud’s faith becomes a horror story when she appears to actually commune with God. And the question we’re left with is whether Maud has had a real religious experience, or if she’s gone off the deep end.
Watch Saint Maud on Prime Video.
The Witch (2015)
The Witch was Anya Taylor-Joy’s first feature film, and also her breakthrough role before starring in such movies as The New Mutants and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. It’s also thematically suitable for this list, because like The Nun 2, a supernatural being is at the heart of the story. Taylor-Joy plays Thomasin, the oldest daughter of a Puritan family living in a secluded woods near the end of the 17th century.
When Thomasin’s infant brother, Samuel, dies under suspicious circumstances, her mother, Katherine (Kate Dickie), blames Thomasin, whose father, William (Ralph Ineson), fails to defend. What they don’t know is that a witch (Bathsheba Garnett) is responsible for Samuel’s death, and she is far from finished tormenting the family.
Watch The Witch on Max.
