British mystery drama, set in the 1940s, in which a country doctor is called to treat a patient at a crumbling estate.
An elegant, sinister tale of the uncanny, with its own streak of pathos.
We know everyone involved in this film can do better.
Those expecting a Woman in Black-style histrionic chiller may also be disappointed but will take some consolation from the clutch of truly haunting performances.
This lacks the sting in the tail of something like the similarly post-War The Others, but it offers a soupy atmosphere of low-level dread and paints a devastating portrait of a vanishing age.
A consummately crafted and very subtle film which ends with quite a kick.
Despite strong performances from Gleeson, Will Poulter and especially Ruth Wilson, the film’s determination to prioritise theme over story turns it into a somewhat clenched academic exercise.
The pervasive sense of foreboding may unsettle, but there are too few genuine scares to call this a horror. Rather, it’s a poignant examination of the pain of isolation and envy, an unrequited love letter to a time that has passed by and perhaps never fully was in the first place.
A slow pace and a low-key Domhnall Gleeson make this supernatural tale less gripping than it might be.
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Friday October 5, 2018, until Thursday October 18, 2018. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com
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