The story takes place in the late 1960s in southern California. A young expecting couple, John and Mia, acquire a creepy doll and all hell breaks loose. After being attacked in their home by some crazy cult members and having too many haunting events, the couple move to an apartment when their baby girl is born. The hauntings do not stop and become far worse as Mia starts to think she is going crazy.

Mia puts it together that there is some demon spirit that wants a soul. It is linked to the Annabelle doll, and despite John throwing it away before they moved, the doll resurfaces in a moving box. Even their priest has a horrible accident when he tries to move the doll to a church. Mia finally decides a sacrifice must be made to save their daughter.

This is a fun spin-off of the Conjuring movies. It had the right pacing and scares to align it with the other movies quite well. I liked the subtleties that show you just the bare minimum before ramping it up in the third act. Where it lost me a tad was during the climax when there was an abrupt pivot that felt so disjointed. It was like the editing and dialogue just didn’t work for that particular part.

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