Annabelle Comes Home picks up right after the prologue to The Conjuring, but its ending takes place before the remainder of the film. Following the success of the first Conjuring in 2013, Warner Bros. and New Line decided to move forward with a prequel based around the movie’s evil Annabelle doll titled, well, Annabelle. And when that film went on to become a commercial hit too, the studios were quick to green-light another prequel - this one referred to as Annabelle: Creation - that revealed both who built the wicked toy and how it became demonically-inclined to begin with.
Needless to say, Creation was also quite profitable, and paved the way for a third spinoff titled Annabelle Comes Home. Written and directed by Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation writer Gary Dauberman (making his feature debut), the third Annabelle adventure starts up immediately after the prologue to The Conjuring, as Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) help some poor nursing students who’re being terrorized by the eponymous doll. The Warrens subsequently bring Annabelle home and store her away in their cursed artifacts room, while also placing her inside a box of sacred glass to keep her supernatural powers at bay. After that, her evil is contained… until it’s not.
Trouble comes a knockin’ one night when the Warrens are out of town, leaving their young daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace) alone with her babysitter Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), and Mary Ellen’s friend Daniela (Katie Sarife). When Mary Ellen goes snooping around in the Warrens’ artifacts room and attempts to contact her recently-deceased father (who died in a car accident while she was with him), she inadvertently unleashes Annabelle and allows the doll to awaken the wicked spirits that’ve been lying dormant in the objects around her. In the end, however, Judy, Mary Ellen, and Daniela are able to join forces and return Annabelle to her sacred container, preventing her from doing any more harm. It’s a good thing too, seeing as the Warrens will soon have even bigger fish to fry…
Annabelle Comes Home Ends Before The Conjuring
For those who need a refresher: The Conjuring 1 primarily took place in 1971 and followed the Warrens as they come to the aid of the Perron clan - a family that had moved into a farmhouse in Rhode Island, unaware that the property was cursed by an accused witch named Bathsheba back in the 19th century. Bathsheba actually brought the fight directly to the Warrens at one point in the film by invading their home and using Annabelle to attack Judy. All the same, Annabelle Comes Home wraps things up well before any of that transpires. It’s a bit of a change of pace from Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation, which both concluded with a scene that directly fed into the events of the next Conjuring movie in chronological order.
In a way, though, that makes sense for the movie. Annabelle Comes Home is more along the lines of a dark 1980s Amblin adventure (a group of kids battle a terrifying threat) than Conjuring films past, and has typically been described as a creepier take on Night at the Museum by Dauberman and series architect James Wan. As such, the movie appropriately wraps up with a heartwarming moment where Mary Ellen, Daniela, and a whole lot of other kids show up for Judy’s birthday party, in turn showing that Judy isn’t as alone as she felt at the beginning of the film. It’s not the first time that a Conjuring entry had concluded on a touching note (The Conjuring 2 also ended with Ed and Lorraine sharing a romantic dance), but it’s a welcome payoff to Judy, Mary Ellen, and Daniela’s journey together all the same.
MORE: Just How Scary is Annabelle Comes Home?
Annabelle Comes Home Doesn’t Have Any Major Nun Or Crooked Man Connections
As its premise suggests, Annabelle Comes Home features a whole lot of demons and monsters that’ve never shown up in a Conjuring film before (what with them having been imprisoned in the Warrens’ collection). Nevertheless, there are two ghouls in particular who fail to make an appearance here. The first one is Valak, aka. the demonic nun-in-disguise who made their debut in The Conjuring 2 and has since starred in a prequel of their own titled The Nun. The other is The Crooked Man, a creature that gets its name from the “There Was a Crooked Man” nursery rhyme, and also became a part of the franchise in The Conjuring 2. In truth, there’s a simple reason why the pair didn’t join the party in Annabelle Comes Home: they just hadn’t met the Warrens yet.
With The Nun 2 currently being written and a Crooked Man spinoff reportedly in development, there’s a fair chance that either one or both of these ghouls will return to The Conjuring Universe at some point in the future. The former project seems to be moving much faster than the latter, though, so the odds are in favor of Valak getting their groove back before The Crooked Man does. At the same time, Annabelle Comes Home has now introduced a whole lot of new Conjuring villains (The Ferryman, The Hellhound, the haunted wedding dress) that seem like prime candidates to receive a movie of their own in the future. For now, however, The Conjuring 3 is the only remaining entry with an official release date, so fans are free to speculate about which solo (demon) movie will and/or should come next… though, probably best to not rule out an Annabelle/Valak team-up just yet, either.
