Warner Bros. Pictures
When the most formidable house-bound evil is the kind you can’t see, you need a special kind of clean-up patrol. In The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, the spiritual scouring is left to real-life couple and paranormal investigators Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren (Patrick Wilson).
Lorraine, now 86, and Ed, who died in 2006, were a couple whose life work focused on house-hauntings and ridding domiciles of evil spirits. Best known for their association with the Amityville Horror case in the mid-1970s, The Conjuring describes their involvement, in 1971, with a home in Harrisville, Rhode Island, whose non-corporeal inhabitants are hell-bent on murder.
Ruling mystics and spiritualists, Neptune is personified here by the Warrens, who selflessly (Neptune) and compassionately (Neptune) try to keep families together by getting rid of their homes’ underworld invaders. But the Harrisville residence – inhabited by the increasingly desperate Perrons (Lily Taylor and Ron Livingston) and their five daughters, all of whom have been on the receiving end of the entities’ malevolence and stalkings – will be a large-scale challenge for the Warrens.
The film explores other Neptunian themes, such as Lorraine’s clairvoyance, as well as the Warrens’ sacrifice – because of commitment to their work, the pair don’t spend as much time with their young daughter as they’d like. Also significant is Lorraine’s sensitivity and receptivity to these forces from the other side, which weaken her physically.
In The Conjuring, Neptune demonstrates once again it’s is the planet least equipped to handle boundary issues, letting in both the beatific and the demonic with equal ease.
Astrology Film Rating: ♆ (Neptune)
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