Review of The Little Stranger (2018) by Reuben M — 05 Nov 2018

THE LITTLE STRANGER is perhaps a ghost story or perhaps a psychological exploration or perhaps something in-between. It is perhaps a commentary on class and class-envy. It might be all these things.

On the surface, it tells the story of Dr. Faraday (Domnhall Gleeson), a seriously uptight doctor who takes a new job in a small English countryside village, circa early 1940s. It's the village he lived in as a small boy, and when's he's called to attend to the maid in a run-down English estate, memories of his time visiting the mansion as a child come flooding back. His mother was a former maid in the household, and he only spent a short time there...but his memories are VERY strong. He finds himself sucked into the life of the remaining family, including the patriarch, a man badly burned and maimed during WWI (WIll Polter), his younger sister who clearly has the intelligence to make a go of the place, but is forbidden by society (Ruth Wilson) and their mother (Charlotte Rampling), who still dwells on her first child, the long dead Suki. The family is on the verge of losing most of their estate, and the mansion is decaying in front of them (the art direction for the film is impeccable).

Weird things start to happen in the house, and Dr. Faraday becomes deeply intertwined with the family. We initially see him as perhaps simply the dispassionate observer, but eventually, as his deep-seated reserve morphs into something more uncomfortable...we see he's really just as big a part of all the events as anyone else.

To say more risks spoiling too much. Suffice it to say that everyone in the film does good work, the movie looks great, and while very slow paced, it never ceased to be interesting. The atmosphere is laden with sadness and foreboding. However, the ending is fumbled. I get that director Lenny Abrahamson wanted some ambiguity, but it was too much. He led us to believe one thing was probably happening, but we aren't sure. Then it's something else, but we're not sure how to take THAT either. With the way the final scenes were structured, it would not have been too difficult to just explain a few things a little better. Frankly, it felt like the director thought he had given us all the info he needed to...but he had not, in fact, answered enough questions to make the film satisfying. After all the patience we put into watching the film and absorbing it...we were rewarded with a shrug of an ending that left me QUITE unhappy. I don't need to be spoonfed everything about a plot, but if I'm willing to meet a director halfway, he should be willing to reciprocate.

So, while there is much to admire, in the end, the film was a waste of my time and I cannot recommend it. I don't know how it compares to the novel...but I can assure you, if you haven't read the novel, you'll certainly experience disappointment with the film. Perhaps not as much as me...but assuredly some.