It Looks Like THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA is Connected To THE CONJURING Universe
I’ve actually wondered if the upcoming James Wan-produced horror film The Curse of La Llorona was connected to The Conjuring universe. I figured that the movie would be its own thing, but it looks like I figured wrong.
The Curse of La Llorona premiered recently at SXSW, and it sounds like Tony Amendola’s Father Perez officially crosses over from The Conjuring universe. This character initially appeared in the first Conjuring spinoff film Annabelle.
Bloody Disgusting went ahead and confirmed that this is indeed the same character. They explain in their review how the character fits in:
But this is a Conjuring universe film through and through, which means there’s a familiarity to the scares and formula. It also means a tenuous and not so necessary connection between the films. Remember Father Perez (Tony Amendola) from Annabelle? If you don’t, that’s ok. This film works hard to remind you, flashing Annabelle on screen as if Perez’s explanation about a case involving an evil doll wasn’t a tip-off. It makes even less of an impact considering Perez only pops in long enough to push Anna along her path toward someone else who might help. The Annabelle connection also explains why this film is set in Los Angeles in ’73, when La Llorona would be better suited in a location far more south.
So that pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the connection. It’s pretty cool to learn that there is a connection though.
The film is based on the folklore of a ghost of a weeping woman who haunts and terrorizes as she attempts to take the kids of a mother who is played by Linda Cardellini. The story is set in 1970s Los Angeles, and Cardellini plays a widowed social worker raising her two kids. As she investigates a case, she starts to find similarities between the case and a supernatural entity that is haunting her own family.
This is the full synopsis for the film:
La Llorona. The Weeping Woman. A horrifying apparition, caught between Heaven and Hell, trapped in a terrible fate sealed by her own hand. The mere mention of her name has struck terror around the world for generations.
In life, she drowned her children in a jealous rage, throwing herself in the churning river after them as she wept in pain.
Now her tears are eternal. They are lethal, and those who hear her death call in the night are doomed. La Llorona creeps in the shadows and preys on the children, desperate to replace her own. As the centuries have passed, her desire has grown more voracious…and her methods more terrifying.
In 1970s Los Angeles, La Llorona is stalking the night—and the children.
Ignoring the eerie warning of a troubled mother suspected of child endangerment, a social worker and her own small kids are soon drawn into a frightening supernatural realm. Their only hope to survive La Llorona’s deadly wrath may be a disillusioned priest and the mysticism he practices to keep evil at bay, on the fringes where fear and faith collide.
Beware of her chilling wail…she will stop at nothing to lure you into the gloom. Because there is no peace for her anguish. There is no mercy for her soul. And there is no escape from the curse of La Llorona.
The film also stars Patricia Velasquez (The Mummy), Sean Patrick Thomas (Barbershop: Back in Business), and Raymond Cruz (Better Call Saul). It was written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis.
The Curse of La Llorona is set to hit theaters April 19, 2019. Enjoy the trailer!