Review of The Little Stranger (2018) by Jack W — 01 Sep 2018

This film is about a British doctor, who comes from a poor family, in post-World War II England, who befriends a financially troubled aristocratic family whose house may be haunted.

I deeply regret seeing this. The trailer does a good job of tricking you into thinking this is something it is not. Sad thing is I'd looked at reviews for the original book this was based on and was aware this was supposed to be more psychological than a straight-up ghost story. Yet, I was still unprepared for the content.

Although the movie starts out well enough, it becomes a terribly slow affair. Once the characters' motivations and personalities are revealed, the whole thing is a slog of repetitive chraracter traits and awkwardness by and/or between characters. Events are telegraphed way, way ahead of time.

It doesn't help that this movie is as depressing and morose as all get out. That's not to say that I'm anti-depressing films in general. There are some really good ones out there (i.e. Grave of the Fireflies). This, however, doesn't have much to justify its existence.

To its credit, visually it is competently directed. The dilapidated old house looks quite good. The acting is all top-notch as well.

I haven't left a movie in such a bitter mood in a long, long time. I advise you to avoid this.