Roger Michell directs Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin and Holliday Grainger in this gothic romance about an immature inheritor of an estate who suspects his benefactor’s alluring widow of murder. 

Perhaps the most unexpected surprise of the year so far, this a gripping and beautiful drama that dances along a knife’s edge for its brisk running time. Quality wafts from every frame and artisanal moviemaking choice. It really is top notch stuff from the shifting focus of the cinematography emphasising the unresolved mystery hook, to the discordant score by Rael Jones, right down to the dusty lush soft furnishings and dog wrangling. The central performance by Weisz is enigmatic but enthralling – is she a teasing poisoning seductress or a confident woman trying to eke a little freedom of her own away from the ownership of men? This will be regarded as her key role in years to come, hopefully marking out a new stage in her career where she can join Jodie, Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve and Kate Winslet as one the indisputable great modern female movie stars. After years of confidentially improving average thrillers and blockbusters with her mere presence, Weisz’s time is now – let’s please let her run wild in many more well crafted and entertaining movies like this from now on.

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