Directed
by Sergio G. Sánchez, Starring: George MacKay, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie
Heaton. Drama, Horror, Spain, 2017, 110mins, Cert 15.
Making
his feature film debut ,Sergio G. Sánchez, the writer of THE ORPHANAGE, this
time directs his own screenplay and delivers a beautifully melancholic tale of
family secrets and the horrors that unfold from them. There’s more than a touch
of Poe in the gothic proceedings, and a couple of genuinely chill-inducing moments
of fright which are well-earned.
It’s
1969. Eldest son Jack (George MacKay), is entrusted with the welfare of his
siblings, and instructed by his mother on her rasping deathbed to maintain the pretence
of her still being alive until his 21st birthday so he can become
their legal guardian. Having left England for America, and having changed
their name to that of their mother's childhood family home, ‘Marrowbone’, for a time their life seems relatively peaceful.
However, a single rifle shot pierces the quietness, and signals a sinister turn
of events that will irreparably scar Jack both psychically and mentally.
There’s
a measured assurance in Sánchez’s direction, an instinctual sense of allowing
the narrative to unfurl naturally, and giving the impressive young cast time to
breathe life into their characters. Shrewd casting allows the film’s publicists
to quote both Netflix’s STRANGER THINGS with Charlie Heaton playing Jack’s
slightly younger brother Billy, and art house horror hit THE VVITCH by way of
Anya Taylor-Joy as the local town librarian Allie, who makes quite an
impression on the family, and especially on Jack. All the cast perform
admirably, but George MacKay rightly takes centre stage as the conflicted young
man burdened with responsibility, and wrestling with all-consuming guilt.
Visually,
the widescreen canvas makes the most of the natural light and the dramatic Spanish
vistas, shot in Asturias and Catalonia, provide an evocative and ethereal
quality.
Sánchez
pulls off a sleight of hand trick a third of the way into the film which reaps rich
dividends in the final act, although not in a gimmicky M. Night Shyamalan way
whereby the twist often appears as the raison d'être. By which point, most filmmakers
would happily cut here, satisfied with their illusion, but Sánchez aims higher,
and succeeds in presenting us with a bittersweet coda which is both
heart-warming and poetically disturbing.
****
(out of 5*)
Paul
Worts
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