10 Small Details You Only Notice Rewatching The Nun
9. Father Burke's Exorcist Influence
With its religious background and themes around possessions and evil killer demons, The Nun was always going to draw comparisons to the 1974 horror classic The Exorcist. This is perhaps most evident in the main man for exorcisms and demonic possessions, Father Burke.
Father Burke is introduced in The Nun as being one of the Vatican's go-to guys for the strange and bizarre goings on around the world and is described as being like the 'James Bond of miracles'. Burke's introduction in his black priest attire and matching hat is strikingly similar to the outfit worn by Father Lankester Merrin in The Exorcist, but the similarities between the pair extend much further than just that.
The scene where Burke is buried alive and tormented by Valak is highly reminiscent of the flashing demonic face in The Exorcist.
All of these small details might not mean much to the average audience member on their own however, when they're all put alongside each other, they all go a long way in lending both Burke and the rest of the film with a whole new tone.