The Nun

If you want a drama that takes its characters as seriously as its plot, The Nun is available in Australia on Stan and HBO Max, and in the US on HBO Max Amazon Channel and YouTube TV right now. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. 7,213 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. Taissa Farmiga's performance alone is worth the time investment. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Stan.

The Nun arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. The Nun trusts its audience to sit with discomfort instead of resolving it too quickly. A priest with a dark past and a novice nearing her final vows are sent by the Vatican to Romania to investigate a nun's death and face a demonic force. The performances from Taissa Farmiga and Demián Bichir give it more weight than the premise alone would suggest. The Nun came out in 2018. What elevates The Nun is a refusal to let any character off the hook too easily. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

The Nun is what you recommend to people who say they do not really watch much. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single evening. Taissa Farmiga carries the material with a performance that rewards close attention. Worth starting sooner rather than later.