Top 4 Best Movies Like The Nun (Ranked & Where to Stream)

William Friedkin's groundbreaking horror relies on sterile, clinical terror before unleashing full-blown spiritual warfare. When twelve-year-old Regan MacNeil exhibits increasingly violent, blasphemous behavior, her desperate mother turns to Father Damien Karras, a priest wrestling with his own fractured faith. Friedkin shoots the possession with unsparing realism, letting mundane hospital corridors give way to frigid, bone-chilling bedroom confrontations driven by practical effects and raw, uncompromising sound design. It remains the gold standard for ecclesiastical terror. Anyone searching for movies like The Nun will appreciate how deeply rooted both stories are in Catholic demonology, ancient curses, and solemn clergy confronting absolute evil.

Russell Crowe brings boisterous charisma and gravel-voiced conviction to Father Gabriele Amorth, the real-life chief exorcist of the Vatican. Directed by Julius Avery, the film follows Amorth as he rides a Lambretta scooter across Europe to inspect an ancient Spanish abbey harboring a centuries-old demonic infestation. Avery leans heavily into pulpy, gothic action, blending church cover-ups with explosive, crucifix-brandishing showdowns. The film captures the shadowy atmosphere and historical conspiracy that define compelling religious thrillers. It directly scratches the itch for fans of The Nun who want ancient stone sanctuaries, forbidden vaults, and rogue priests trading barbs with guttural subterranean entities.

David F. Sandberg directs this gothic prequel with meticulous visual restraint, relying on deep-focus compositions and creeping camera pans to build oppressive suspense. Set in an isolated California farmhouse, a grieving dollmaker and his wife open their home to a nun and several displaced orphans, inadvertently unleashing an entity tethered to a porcelain doll. Sandberg maximizes physical space, turning darkened hallways, dumbwaiters, and locked bedrooms into gauntlets of creeping dread. Because it shares creative DNA with The Nun inside the Conjuring franchise, viewers will instantly recognize the crisp jump-scare mechanics, religious iconography, and grim exploration of innocent souls targeted by ancient malice.

Gary Dauberman transforms the Warrens' infamous locked artifact room into a pressure-cooker haunted house when an inquisitive babysitter unlocks the glass cage of Annabelle. Left alone for the weekend with the Warrens' young daughter, a trio of teenagers faces a rogue gallery of spirits, including the Ferryman and a cursed bridal gown. Dauberman embraces a brisk, creature-feature pacing that keeps every corner of the house humming with occult peril. For audiences seeking the relentless carnival-ride momentum of movies like The Nun, this entry delivers abundant demonic apparitions, holy artifacts under siege, and relentless third-act supernatural chaos.