The film’s official synopsis reads, “Determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren bring the possessed doll to the locked artifacts room in their home, placing her safely behind sacred glass and enlisting a priest’s holy blessing. But an unholy night of horror awaits as Annabelle awakens the evil spirits in the room, who all set their sights on a new target—the Warrens’ ten-year-old daughter, Judy, and her friends.”
Washington Post’s Michael O’Sullivan wrote, “To be completely honest, most of the film’s best moments consist of simple jump scares and little else. But the connection to “It” is no coincidence. Writer-director Gary Dauberman, making his directorial debut here, co-wrote that 2017 film (and also wrote its forthcoming sequel). Like a skilled, workmanlike session musician who has played with some of the greats, he has learned how to pound on familiar, repetitive chords to create a pleasurable rhythm, one you can feel in your spine. The movie is scary, to be sure, but it’s also larky good fun. To quote King Harvest’s “Dancing in the Moonlight,” the 1973 hit song that plays, cheerfully if ironically, over the closing credits, it’s a supernatural delight.”
The Guardian’s Benjamin Lee wrote, “There’s not even anything here that will convert a Conjuring universe non-believer let alone an atheist. Ultimately, the scariest thing about Annabelle Comes Home is that despite its utter emptiness, more sequels, prequels and spin-offs will follow regardless.”
IGN’s Juliet Bennett Rylah noted, “Annabelle Comes Home is still spooky in all the ways fans of the series expect, but it also features a kind of levity — particularly when it comes to the ordeal of Bob (Michael Cimino),a kindhearted teenage neighbour who has a crush on Mary Ellen and is hoping to use this opportunity to ask her out — not typically found in its sinister siblings.”
Annabelle Comes Home stars Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman and Katie Sarife. It releases on July 27 in India.