How to Watch the Entire 'Conjuring' Series in Order, Both Chronologically and By Release Date
Watch all the Conjuring, Annabelle and The Nun movies.
When Ed and Lorraine Warren reported for duty at a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, they had no idea they'd be inspiring a sprawling, multi-pronged scary movie franchise that's now eight movies deep and counting. The Conjuring, about the Warrens' attempts to save a family of seven from that possessed farmhouse, came out in 2013, and people immediately wanted more glimpses into them and their work as demonologists and paranormal investigators. Spin-offs, including the Annabelle, The Nun and The Curse of La Llorona, followed. Sequels to the spin-offs came shortly after. And now, well, it's hard to keep the timeline straight.
And it's still going. It's a great time to be a Conjuring fan: Not only has The Nun 2 just come out, but a title announced for a fourth Conjuring core film (The Conjuring: Last Rites, date TBD), a TV series has also just been announced. It'll be available on Max, the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max before the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery, and it's said to "continue the story established in the feature films." Which makes sense, since the Warrens probably have a lot of cases that can provide good fodder for seasons or episodes.
If you're looking to re-watch the all the movies in this creepy universe, here's the best way to watch all The Conjuring movies in order. This is a chronological order — meaning it starts with The Nun, which takes place in the '50s, and not The Conjuring — but there's a handy release-date order at the end. To help your re-watch get started, we've also included streaming links for where you can find all the movies online. Just be sure you keep the lights on, and banish any creepy dolls from the room before you start.
When you're done with the adventures of the Warrens, you can move on to re-watching other scary franchises, including watching the Purge movies in order, the Nightmare on Elm Street movies in order, the Child's Play movies in order or the Halloween movies in order.
The Nun (2018)
If you watch The Conjuring movies in chronological order, before you really get introduced to the Warrens, you get introduced to the series' demons. The franchise begins all the way back in 1952, when two nuns in Romania die under suspicious circumstances. The Vatican calls upon Father Burke (Demián Bichir), who has his own haunted past, to investigate the incident alongside Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga, sister of Vera Farmiga, who plays Lorraine Warren). What they discover is that a demon named Valak (Bonnie Aarons) is behind it all — and its work is far from over. (Sounds scary? It wasn't to a 2-year-old in Texas, who insisted on having a The Nun-themed birthday party when she turned 3.)
Annabelle: Creation (2017)
Fans of The Conjuring know Annabelle, the haunted doll that seems to move on its own accord. But how did the doll come to be? (And who would buy such a frightening-looking doll anyway?) Annabelle: Creation heads to South Carolina in 1955 for answers. It follows a doll maker named Samuel (Anthony LaPaglia) and his wife Esther (Miranda Otto). After the couple tragically loses their 7-year-old daughter, they open their home to Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman) and a handful of orphan girls. But when one comes across an old porcelain doll in the closet, a demon gets unleashed and wreaks havoc. Fun fact: While The Conjuring's Annabelle origin story is Hollywood fiction, the doll is based on a real-life object from the actual Warrens' Occult Museum in Monroe, Connecticut — only their haunted plaything was a Raggedy Ann.
The Nun 2 (2023)
According to Bloody Disgusting, the movie takes place in 1956, four years after The Nun. "A priest is murdered," the site reports. "An evil is spreading. The sequel to the worldwide smash hit The Nun follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face to face with the demonic force Valak — The Demon Nun.” Vudu has the first eight minutes for free on YouTube, but Amazon has the whole film to rent.
Annabelle (2014)
We skip ahead to 1967, when a doctor, John Form (Ward Horton), gives a porcelain doll to his expectant wife, Mia (Annabelle Wallis) as a present. What could go wrong? Things turn south right away when the Forms are involved in a deadly home invasion, and then seemingly paranormal events begin to occur in their Pasadena home. Could they all be traced back to the doll?
The Conjuring (2013)
Finally, we get to the film that started it all, where we can see the Warrens in top form. It starts in 1971, when Roger (Ron Livingston) and Carolyn Perron (Lili Taylor) move with their five daughters into an old farmhouse in Rhode Island. After experiencing several haunting paranormal events, they contact demonologists Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) to investigate. This film was directed by James Wan, who has made his mark on the horror genre with movies like Saw, Insidious and Malignant.
Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Ed and Lorraine Warren are given the infamous Annabelle doll to lock away to keep the spirit within it from attacking others. But when the Warren's babysitter invites a friend over, Annabelle's case gets unlocked. Once again, evil spirits are unleashed and require the demonologists to lock them away again.
The Curse of La Llorona (2019)
Just when you thought The Conjuring universe couldn't support another spin-off series, along comes La Llorona ("The Weeping Woman"). The movie takes place in Los Angeles in 1973, when a mother named Patricia (Patricia Alvarez) is blamed for the death of her two sons. (Or was she possessed?) Wanting her sons back, Patricia prays to La Llorona to kill the children of caseworker Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini) in order to bring back her own.
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
It's now 1976, and we return to check in on the Warrens, who have been tapped to investigate the chilling events at the Amityville house. (Perhaps you've heard of that one?) While trying to figure out if a demon caused Ronald DeFeo Jr. to kill his entire family, Lorraine sees a terrifying vision of a demonic nun figure. (Yes, Valak is back.) She fears her vision of Ed getting injured will become a reality as they're called to interpret paranormal events happening with the Hodgson family in London. Like the Amityville case, the events of The Conjuring 2 are based on a real-life Warren investigation, The Enfield Poltergeist, though surely Hollywood has taken liberties.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
The next installment in The Conjuring franchise takes place in 1981, revolving around the once again based-on-a-true-story trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who claimed the devil made him kill his landlord. In the film, the Warrens discover that the curse stems from a witch's totem and was summoned by a satanic worshiper. After investigating a similar murder case, Lorraine and Ed discover the chilling backstory of the curse and what needs to be done in order to stop the demon from manipulating others.
Upcoming 'The Conjuring' TV Series
We can only assume that since this is continuing the story of the Warrens, it occurs latest in the chronology — but a time period or a storyline haven't been announced, so this is just our best guess. We do know that James Wan, who directed The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, is in talks to executive produce alongside Peacemaker producer Peter Safran. There's no word yet when it'll go up on Max.
Upcoming 'The Conjuring: Last Rites' Film
At the CinemaCon convention for movie exhibitors and distributors, Warner Bros. announced the title for another Conuring movie: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Whether or not the title is a tacit admission that it will be the last Conjuring movie remains to be seen. The plot and time period also have not been announced, but we assume it is later in the lives of the inimitable Warrens.
And the Release Order
If you're watching the movies for the first time, the order in which they were released is always best. That way, you find out information about the Warrens, the demons and all the connections in the same order that the filmmakers intended. In this case, here are all 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 (2019)
- Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
- The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)
- The Nun 2 (2023)
- The Conjuring TV series (TBD)
- The Conjuring: Last Rites (TBD)
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