The Curse of La Llorona

The Curse of La Llorona

Genre:	Horror Drama
Photography:	Color
Running Time:	93 minutes
Country:	United States
Release Date:	April 19, 2019
Directed by:	Michael Chaves
Written by:	Mikki Daughtry Tobias Iaconis
Distributed by:	Warner Bros. Pictures
Starring:	Linda Cardellini Raymond Cruz Patricia Velasquez

The Curse of La Llorona is a 2019 American supernatural horror film directed by Michael Chaves. It is the sixth installment in The Conjuring Universe and is based on the Mexican folklore of the same name.

Plot

In 1970s Los Angeles, the legendary ghost La Llorona is stalking the night -- and the children. Ignoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother, a social worker and her own kids are drawn into a frightening supernatural realm. Their only hope of surviving La Llorona's deadly wrath is a disillusioned priest who practices mysticism to keep evil at bay.

Bad Qualities

The story is heavily derivative of other films from the Conjuring Universe. It's basically a run-of-the-mill horror film.
Despite being part of the Conjuring Universe, it has nothing to do with the Warrens at all!
- Also, there is no reason for La Llorona to be in the franchise since she's never appeared in any of the previous movies in the franchise. Also, what does she have to do with the Conjuring?
A very flat plot that relies on clichés.
The film is a jump scare-fest, which is the same problem from the previous film, The Nun.
We see La Llorona way too much to the point where she's not scary anymore.
Poor acting at certain times.
If the boy didn't try to be nosy and go outside, he wouldn't have encountered La Llorona and none of this would've happened.
La Llorona's design is just a rehash of Valak from The Conjuring 2.
- Speaking of which, much like Freddy in Freddy's Dead, she is given powers not present in the original legend.
Plothole: If La Llorona is a Mexican urban legend, what is she doing in 1970s Los Angeles? Just other than the main characters are Mexican in a Spanish name American city?
The film tries to build up tension in some scenes but ends up being dull, and it's just ruined with a jump-scare.

Good Qualities

It's interesting to see a story about La Llorona, despite not mixing with the franchise very well.
Decent visual effects.
La Llorona has a creepy character design, despite being derivative of Valak.
The film would've worked better had it not been part of the Conjuring Universe.
The umbrella scene was pretty scary.
Linda Cardellini gives off a good performance.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 30% based on 165 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Content to coast on jump scares rather than tap into its story's creepy potential, The Curse of La Llorona arrives in theaters already broken." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 41 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and a "definite recommend" of 48%.