The Eldest Curses: The Lost Book of the White

The Eldest Curses: The Lost Book of the White is an Urban Fantasy film released in 2022 based on the 2020 novel by Cassandra Clare. It was the eleventh installment of the The Shadowhunters Chronicles film series. It was released on April 5, 2022. It was the only Shadowhunters film released in 2022 and was intended to fill the gap between The Infernal Devices and The Dark Artifices adaptions. It featured several members of the previous series casts and focused on an adventure for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. Due to its R rating, it grossed lower than the PG-13 releases but was still a box office success. It received mainly positive reviews praising it for reuniting the cast of the Mortal Instruments, pacing and featuring some fan-service. However, it received some criticism for it's poor execution and villains.

Plot
Shinyun Jung and Ragnor Fell hunt down Magnus Bane and steal a magic book entitled the Lost Book of the White. They escape and wound Magnus Bane with a cursed blade. Searching for the thieves, Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood are forced to leave their adoptive child with Alec's mother Maryse Lightwood. Magnus Bane discovers Shinyun and Ragnor had taken a portal to Shanghai. The couple teams up with Isabelle, Clary, Simon, Jace. They travel to Shanghai and team up with the Shanghai Institute. They meet one member named Ke Yi Tian who's in love with a Faerie named Jinfeng and their relationship is forbidden due to the Fairies alignment in the Dark War. Alec lets him know that things are changing.

Shinyun and Ragnor use the Book of the White to free a powerful greater demon named Sammael. They release an army of demons into Shanghai from a realm of the underworld called Diyu. While the Shadowhunters try to stop the attack, Shinyun stabs Magnus Bane again with the Svenfnthorn dagger which will slowly kill him unless he's stabbed again and bonded to Sammael.

The Shadowhunters are forced to enter the realm of Diyu. In the realm souls of the deceased are tortured and Simon and Isabelle are separated from the others and tormented in the wasteland. Luckily, the team manages to get through and evade capture by the demons of the realm. Tian helps the team escape using his knowledge of the realm to their advantage. The team realizes that Tian is involved with Shinyun's plot. Tian claims he is just trying to make the demons overconfident pretending to be on their side.

The team searches for Isabelle and Tian saves her from further torment. The team starts looking for Simon and manages to save her while Magnus and Alec try to save Ragnor Felt from corruption by the dagger used on Magnus. Magnus uses a magic sword to free Ragnor from his demonic control but Sammael takes Ragnor to the most horrible pit of the Underworld. Magnus is stabbed by Shinyun for the third time but Magnus and Alec use an alliance rune to protect themselves. A form of magical energy escapes Magnus and Alec's bodies.

Shinyun betrays Sammael and turns herself into a greater demon using Magnus's energy. She leaves the battle and begins to destroy the realm. Ragnor creates a portal for the Shadowhunters to escape as the realm crumbles. The Shadowhunters rejoice at their victory and Magnus Bane organizes a perfect wedding for Jem Carstairs and Tessa Gray.

In a post-credits scene, Magnus entrusts the Lost Book of the White to the Spiral Labyrinth.

Cast

 * Manny Jacinto as Magnus Bane
 * Kevin Zegers as Alec Lightwood
 * Emilia Jones as Tessa Gray
 * Daniel Padilla as Jem Carstairs
 * Lily Collins as Clary
 * Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace
 * Robert Sheehan as Simon
 * Jemima West as Isabelle
 * Élodie Yung as Shinyun Jung
 * Britt Robertson as Helen Blackthorn
 * Paris Berelc as Aline Penhallow
 * Luke Bracey as Ragnor Fell
 * Adrian Pasdar as Asmodeus
 * Alec Su as Ke Yi Tian
 * Liu Yifei as Jinfeng
 * Ash Santos as Maia Roberts
 * Kate Beckinsale as Maryse Lightwood
 * Jamie Foxx as Sammael
 * Daniel Padilla as Jem Carstairs

Critical Reception
The Eldest Curses: The Lost Book of the White received mainly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 69% based on 200 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Twisted, Dark and Terrifying, The Eldest Curses: The Lost Book of the White may turn off some viewers but is widely entertaining." Metacritic gives the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 150 critics, indicating "generally favorable views". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore were more receptive to the film, giving it a CinemaScore grade of "A".

Sequel
A third film entitled The Eldest Curses: The Black Volume of the Dead  is in production and will be produced after the novel is published intended to be released during a gap between future installments of the franchise. The film will be connected to a trilogy called The Wicked Powers.