Stacie Passon directs Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario and Crispin Glover in this adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s 1962 chiller about a secluded family recovering from a scandalous tragedy who have to contend with the arrival of a handsome and controlling interloper.

We tried to see this on the big screen twice but at the time of each limited showing last year life somehow got in the way. Thank you streaming services for gifting us eventual access to it. Overlooked by critics and audiences, this is a very solid drama mystery that maybe had it thunder stolen by the recent similar likes of Marrowbone and various American Horror Stories. The imagery and beats of Jackson’s writing have been recycled and repurposed mucho in the past few years. A likeable cast (best career use of Daddario so far as a broken doll / Stepford Wife in the making) and a gorgeous evocative look get this respectably over the finish line. It has been sold as a supernatural horror but these elements are very reduced, it is far more approachable as a prestige adaptation of a modern classic in literature. Well worth digging up.

7

Check out my wife Natalie’s Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/