A crucial part of The Conjuring: Last Rites’ true story is unfortunately underdeveloped in the movie. Anticipation was high for Last Rites since it was marketed as the final movie in the Conjuring franchise. Whether this ends up actually being the case or not, it does provide a satisfying conclusion for Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal investigators who fans have been following for over ten years.

The ending of The Conjuring: Last Rites sees Ed and Lorraine officially retire to ensure their own safety, as well as the safety of their daughter, Judy, and her fiancé, Tony. This seems to be a smart decision, especially after the danger they face in the franchise’s newest movie. However, the Warrens are not the only family who are in danger in the film.

Even though the events of the movie are not perfectly accurate to real life, The Conjuring: Last Rites is based on a true story, which means the Smurl family was actually supposedly haunted by a demon in the ’80s. However, The Conjuring: Last Rites unfortunately barely focuses on the Smurl family, and instead chooses to center the story on the Warrens.

The Conjuring: Last Rites Focuses On The Warrens & Basically Ignores The Smurls

Ed, Lorraine, Judy, and Tony are clearly the central characters in The Conjuring: Last Rites. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this. After all, Ed and Lorraine have always been the heart of the Conjuring franchise. However, spending most of the runtime focusing on these four characters comes at the expense of the Smurl family.

The first half of the movie thankfully does spend some time with the Smurl family. Obviously, we see their first encounter with the paranormal when their ceiling light falls on the kitchen table after they bring the cursed mirror into their house. Additionally, Jack Smurl getting possessed by the ghost in bed and Heather Smurl getting attacked by the axe man are memorable scenes in the film.

However, overall, the Smurl family is completely sidelined so that the movie can spend more time with the Warrens. This is a shame, since the Smurls were more affected by the demon than the Warrens were in real life. The Conjuring: Last Rites makes many changes to the true story, including the fact that the Smurls dealt with paranormal phenomena for over ten years before the Warrens arrived on their doorstep.

Just from watching Last Rites, you would never know how long the real-life Smurls actually had to live in a supposedly haunted house. Since none of the children age in the film, the Warrens seemingly arrive to help the family just months after they started experiencing paranormal activity.

By the time Ed and Lorraine arrive at the Pennsylvania home, it’s like none of the members of the Smurl family are important characters anymore. In fact, the entire family actually leaves their home during Last Rites’ climax, which means they are completely omitted from the movie’s most important scene. Since the film barely focuses on them, the Smurl family is unfortunately very forgettable.

The same absolutely can’t be said for the families featured in the previous Conjuring movies. The Perron family from the first film, the Hodgson’s from The Conjuring 2, and Arne, Debbie, and David from The Devil Made Me Do It are all quite memorable, in comparison. Therefore, The Conjuring: Last Rites does a huge disservice to the real-life Smurl family by focusing too much on the Warrens.

The Smurl Family Deserved Way More Attention In The Conjuring: Last Rites

The paranormal case surrounding the Smurls was highly reported on in the ’80s. It’s definitely one of the most well-known cases that the franchise has taken on, but you wouldn’t know that from the depiction of the Smurl family in The Conjuring: Last Rites.

Based on the details of the actual hauntings that the Smurls experienced, most of the members of the family definitely should have had much larger roles in the film. In real life, Ed and Lorraine Warren actually couldn’t even rid the Smurls of the demon and other spirits which haunted their home. In fact, it was a local priest who eventually banished the evil enтιтies from the house.

However, since Last Rites wanted to frame this as a dramatic final case for Ed and Lorraine, this important real-life detail was obviously left out. This is understandable, but if The Conjuring: Last Rites was a more accurate depiction of the real events, then the Warrens would be the minor characters and the Smurl family could have their time in the spotlight.

Even if they weren’t main characters, the members of the Smurl family should have at least been given a little more screen time and characterization. As it stands, the Smurls are easily the most forgettable family in the Conjuring series. Fans loved seeing members of previous families return at the end of The Conjuring: Last Rites, but most people probably wouldn’t even bat an eye if the Smurl family returned in a future movie.