Summary
A mother and daughter, both played by Tilda Swinton, head to an old manor house that has familial significance to both of them and slowly mysteries begin to unravel and things plunge towards the gothic.
I was very disappointed by this film. From the trailer I was expecting a classic British ghost story, with maybe a few modern twists thrown in to update things, however, what I got instead was a suitably creepy film that then delivers one of the most obvious twists used far too frequently within horror cinema which then puts the kiss of death on any hopes of the film being good. The twist, which is that the mother is actually dead and the whole time she and the daughter are interacting it is only in the daughter’s head is incredibly obvious and I could have guessed it from the title alone, I was hoping the film wouldn’t go in that direction and would instead do something more clever and creepy but clearly that was too much to ask for.
It is a shame as the film boasts quite a creepy atmosphere for most of its runtime that does deliver some unsettling moments and leaves a lot of unanswered questions to go over after the film ends, both of which are why this film hasn’t scored lower.
To briefly comment on performance, Tilda Swinton is very capable as usual, but I would say she is hamming things up just a little too much at times here and there are moments wherein you could claim she is overacting.
Overall, a sore disappointment.
2/5
Pros.
The creepy atmosphere
The unanswered questions
Cons.
The twists is incredibly obvious
Swinton goes a little too hammy in her performances
Pacing issues
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Another Millennial Reviewer 