Review
JAMIE EAST AT THE MOVIES
The Little Stranger is a robust horror but never gets going enough for me
Thankfully, Ruth Wilson saves the day with another astounding performance alongside a deliciously chilling Charlotte Rampling
THIS is a film about a bunch of very odd people indeed.
The owners of Hundreds Hall, an 18th Century estate, are much like the kind seen in documentaries about toffs you expect to be billionaires but are in fact holed up in the only room on the estate without pigeons and damp, sleeping under newspaper because they’ve remortgaged to get the lawn mowed.
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Add to that a mother (Charlotte Rampling) mourning the long-ago death of her daughter - a disfigured soldier crippled with PTSD (Will Poulter) and Dr. Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson) - a snivelling, uptight man who, when not discussing the formulation of something called the NHS, is trying his best to cop off with Caroline (Ruth Wilson) - the only sensible person in the whole film - who is being left to deal with everyone else’s problems.
These problems escalate when strange things begin to happen.
The finger is pointed at a poltergeist, but... but.
“Children are capable of the most intense desires” is quoted at one point - and probably holds the key to the entire puzzle.
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Throughout all the weird carvings, malevolent forces, dog attacks, problems with the plumbing and mysterious bell ringing - you’re never quite sure whether it’s supernatural or something more sinister.
It’s a pretty robust gothic horror, but never quite gets going enough for me, even with it’s big reveal.
Thankfully Ruth Wilson saves the day with another astounding performance - backed up by a deliciously chilling Charlotte Rampling. Gleeson gives his usual clipped per face and Poulter is on a career best - but for me it needed a bit more oomph.
The Little Stranger, 111mins (12A)
★★★☆☆
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