How do you watch all The Conjuring movies in order? We’re currently in the midst of the golden age of cinematic universes, but none are as spooky as The Conjuring.
With eight films in the franchise so far and a jumbled chronology, we’re betting that The Conjuring movies have left you scratching your head. But if you’re wanting to do a marathon of today’s best horror movies, we can help unscramble your brain and guide you through some of the best ghost movies around. We’ve had sequels, spin-offs, sequels to the spin-offs, and spin-offs to the sequels. It’s a mess.
So let’s take it back to the start and remove the confusion. Based on the real-life cases of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) The Conjuring universe so far includes three main installments and four spin-offs, all of which connect in fascinating ways. To bask in the franchise’s full potential and celebrate the The Nun 2, here’s the best way to watch The Conjuring movies in order from start to finish.
How to watch The Conjuring movies in chronological order
If you want to watch The Conjuring movies chronologically, you should start in 1952 with The Nun and work your way through to the 1981 setting of the third Conjuring movie, The Devil Made Me Do It.
Here are The Conjuring movies in chronological order:
- The Nun
- Annabelle: Creation
- The Nun 2
- Annabelle
- The Conjuring
- Annabelle Comes Home
- The Curse of La Llorona
- The Conjuring 2
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
The Nun (2018)
Where to watch: Max, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV
Set in 1952, here is where all the otherworldly evil begins and where the context for the Warrens’ long-standing battle against a specific nun-looking demon is at. The film follows the story of Father Burke and Sister Irene, who set off to investigate a Romanian monastery after a nun kills herself. Well, surprise, the holy ground isn’t that holy, and we learn the backstory about a gateway to hell, opened during the Dark Ages.
Besides giving us context to the rest of the series and one of the Conjuring-verse’s main antagonists, Valak, The Nun also relates back to the events of the first Conjuring movie. At the end of The Nun, we see one of our protagonists, revealed as Maurice Theriault – the man the Warrens exorcise at the beginning of the first Conjuring movie – during a flash-forward to 1971.
Annabelle: Creation (2017)
Where to watch: Max, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV
Annabelle: Creation is set just three years after we saw Valak supposedly getting owned in The Nun and sent back to hell (emphasis on supposedly). This spin-off acts as a prequel to both The Conjuring and another Conjuring spin-off, Annabelle. For those who don’t know, Annabelle is probably one of the most famous demonic dolls in pop culture, and here is where we learn how she came to be.
After losing their seven-year-old daughter in a car crash, a dollmaker and his wife create everyone’s favorite creepy porcelain toy who ends up becoming the shell for a powerful demon. After the couple opens their home to a nun and a handful of orphans, some terrifying haunts ensue, and one of the children, Janice, gets taken in by the powers of darkness.
At the end of the movie, we see Janice, now adopted by the Higgins family and going under the name Annabelle, lining up the events perfectly for the next film in the timeline. We also see a familiar creepy Nun return – since, surprise, Valak is still kicking.
The Nun 2 (2023)
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
The Nun 2 is set four years after The Nun (and therefore a year after Annabelle: Creation). That is right, it is 1956, and Valak is back to battle Sister Irene at a boarding school in rural France.
In the film, we learn of a potential connection between Sister Irene and Lorraine Warren. Both seem to be related to a religious figure named Saint Lucy, who, like the two, had visions. See? It all ties together. While Valak is sent back to hell in this movie, we know that he returns in some way in the future. With the post-credit scene shows the Warrens getting the call to help Maurice – who is possessed again.
To find out what we thought of the latest addition to the list of new movies in this franchise, you can read our The Nun 2 review here.
Annabelle (2014)
Where to watch: Max, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV
Now that we know how the creepy doll came to be, Annabelle makes a lot more sense, as in many ways, this Conjuring spin-off throws you into the supernatural deep end. Set in 1961, we see a young couple getting ready for their newborn by decorating their nursery with spooky dolls (gotta love that horror logic), and guess who gets added to their collection.
We also learn what happened to Janice. Without giving too much away, let’s just say, one murder leads to another, and long story short, the demon was transferred back into the Annabelle doll. So, as you can expect, the new couple is soon terrorized by the possessed plaything. We are also introduced to Father Perez (remember that name), who comes to exorcize the doll in this film.
After some hectic spooks, Annabelle ends up in a pawn shop. However, when the doll is bought as a gift for a nursing student, the young girl calls the Warrens – fully introducing us to the Conjuring-verse’s main protagonists.
The Conjuring (2013)
Where to watch: Max, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV
And now, finally, we get the movie that started it all. Arguably one of, if not the best, films in the franchise so far, The Conjuring is next on the timeline. Set in 1971, the movie opens with Maurice, who we mentioned back in The Nun entry.
Lorraine sees a graphic vision during his exorcism, where her husband dies via an enormous wooden stake through the chest. Understandably she is a bit spooked and isolates herself for a few days. Ed is worried about his wife taking on any cases, but spooky duty calls once again. The duo is asked to investigate a haunted house, which is revealed to be on cursed land and the hunting ground for a vicious witch. With plenty of scares, and quality tension, the movie is a class-A haunt.
At the end of the flick, the couple learns about some spooky events that refer to the real-life Amityville Horror case, and we are ready to dive into The Conjuring 2 – well, almost.
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Where to watch: Max, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV
It turns out the specific call that we saw at the end of The Conjuring won’t actually be investigated for another five years – no cinematic timeline is without a couple of logical hiccups, right?
The Warrens decide to travel to investigate another case and leave their clairvoyant daughter behind with babysitter Mary and the possessed demon toy Annabelle, who is now sitting in a glass case amongst the rest of the Warrens’ oddities.
Mary’s friend ends up opening said glass case, and next thing you know, we see plenty of ghosts, including a bride wandering around, which subtly foreshadows the next movie on our timeline. To stop all the evil spirits from causing a muck, they must seal Annabelle away again. But as we all know by now, is the evil ever really contained in glass case or not?
The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
Where to watch: Max, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV
Moving away from porcelain toys and back to some good old-fashioned murderous ghosts, The Curse of La Llorona is the flick that really starts to tie the Conjuring universe together. Based on the folktale, The Weeping Woman, the story features a bridal-looking ghost who drowned her two children.
Set in 1973, we follow Anna Tate-Garcia, a caseworker who investigates a mother of two who has seemingly lost her marbles, trapping her traumatized sons in a closet. Needless to say, this kick starts some killer haunting from none other than the 300-year-old ghost La Llorona.
Once her own children are put in danger, Garcia enlists the help of Father Perez, who we were previously introduced to back in Annabelle. Here we are given more context to the character. Although this Conjuring spin-off doesn’t feature the Warrens and isn’t even technically part of the Conjuring universe, seeing Father Perez again hints that we might see him and the couple team up in a future installment.
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Where to watch: Max, Amazon Prime, Apple TV
We are back to following our favorite investigators, the Warrens, and the best movies in the franchise. It all begins with the couple now finally investigating the supernatural disturbance mentioned at the end of the first Conjuring movie, the infamous Amityville murders. While there, Lorraine sees the same vision of Ed dying; this time, however, Valak, our resident evil nun, makes an appearance as well.
A year after the vision, the couple and the demon decide to take a trip across the pond, and the main events of The Conjuring 2 begin to kick off. Set in England in 1977, a single mother and her family are being terrorized by the ghost of a grumpy old man, Bill Wilkins, who wants the living tenants out of the home. The Warrens take the case, and we get to see them face off against Valak on international grounds.
The Conjuring 2 is just as good as its predecessor, with director James Wan making the most of the freedom to work with a bigger budget and an expanded running time. Ghost train rides don’t come much spookier than this.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
Where to watch: Max, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV
Innocent until proven possessed, am I right? Finally, the Conjuring movies have made it to the ‘80s, and the law meets the world of the paranormal. Like most of the Conjuring films, this movie draws on real-life cases of the Warren couple and is based on the trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, the first murder trial where a defendant claimed demonic possession.
Although the movie isn’t as refined as the first two Conjuring flicks, the film shows an exciting progression in the Conjuring Universe. We see Lorraine being deeply affected by the nefarious entity, showing that our protagonists aren’t above being manipulated or even possessed.
And there you have it: all the current Conjuring movies in chronological order. We know that there’s another movie in the works, but we don’t know The Conjuring 4 release date just yet. There’s also a Conjuring TV series release date in development, which we think has the potential to be one of the best horror series ever made.
How to watch The Conjuring movies in release order
It’s much simpler to watch The Conjuring movies in the way they were originally released, with spin-offs interspersed between the three main horror movies in the franchise.
Here are The Conjuring movies in release order:
- The Conjuring (2013)
- Annabelle (2014)
- The Conjuring 2 (2016)
- Annabelle: Creation (2017)
- The Nun (2018)
- The Curse of La Llorona
- Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
- The Nun 2 (2023)
Conjuring fans should delve into the Annabelle true story and the Conjuring 2 true story, as well as the Ryan Gosling cameo you never noticed in The Conjuring.
Or for more terrifying timelines, check out how to watch The Purge movies in order and how to watch the Halloween movies in order. We’ve also got a guide to The Nun 3 release date.