The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It takes the franchise into the 1980s for another paranormal experience centered around Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga). Like the last two movies, the third installment in The Conjuring series focus on cases that the Warrens investigated in real life.
The Conjuring 3, which was originally scheduled for a September 2020 release before the coronavirus pandemic happened, is hitting theaters and HBO Max on June 4, 2021. The Warrens were last featured in Annabelle Comes Home in 2019 as side characters, but the two haven’t been the focus of a movie in the franchise since 2016’s The Conjuring 2. This time around, they’ll be looking into a possible demonic possession connected to a murder trail in Connecticut. Trailers show for the movie reveal them trying to get to the bottom of a homicide supposedly committed by Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor). In doing so, the couple will come across a powerful, supernatural threat.
As noted in the trailer, it has been confirmed that The Conjuring: The Devil Made Do It will take place in 1981. That means that the latest entry in the franchise is also the closest it’s ever come to the present. Ahead of the newest movie, there are currently seven installments in The Conjuring franchise (including The Curse of La Llorona) and none have been set any later than the 1970s. The first movie was set in 1971, but subsequent films went a few years ahead and a few years back. As of now, the timeline begins with The Nun in 1952 and ends with The Conjuring 2 in 1977, but The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It will push the franchise forward by four more years.
At this point in the Conjuring Universe’s timeline, Patrick Wilson’s Ed Warren will be 55, whereas Vera Farmiga’s Lorraine Warren will be 54 (Wilson and Farmiga are both 47). The two demonologists investigated paranormal incidents across several decades, which has given filmmakers plenty of leeway in terms of which time periods the movies can explore. The particular event that The Conjuring 3 is based on, the “Devil Made Do It” case from 1981, happened in the later years of the Warrens’ careers as paranormal experts. The Warrens claiming that Johnson killing his landlord was the result of a demonic possession received a great deal of attention in the media at the time.
One of the best elements of the movies in the Conjuring Universe is how the directors are able to perfectly capture the time periods they’re set in through the use of music, clothing, dialogue, pop culture references, and more. Given how other movies in the franchise have been handled, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Do It is sure to make viewers feel like they’re in 1981.