Year of Release: 2011
Director: Nick Murphy
Screenplay: Stephen Volk and Nick Murphy
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton, Isaac Hempstead-Wright
Running Time: 107 minutes
Genre: Horror
The year is 1921 and Britain is reeling in the aftermath of the First World War and the Spanish Flu pandemic. Interest in spiritualism is high as grieving people search for any shred of hope. Florence Cathcart (Hall) is a controversial author who specialises in debunking alleged hauntings and exposing fraudulent mediums. She is contacted by Robert Mallory (West), a teacher at a boy's boarding school, who wants her to investigate sightings of the alleged ghost of a boy, which might be connected to a recent death at the school. Reluctantly Florence agrees. However, as her investigation proceeds she soon comes to believe that the ghost may be more real than she thought, and more dangerous.
This film is essentially an old fashioned ghost story with an additional mystery element. It's a mostly slow, sedate film that relies more on atmosphere than gory thrills, and it does have a real doom-laden feel to it. It's set in the years following the First World War and Spanish Flu outbreak, where people are searching for something to hold on to and there was an increase in belief in the supernatural and spiritualism was at it's height, as grieving people were desperate to contact the people they had lost. Robert Mallory was in the war and experiences survivor's guilt, whereas the school's groundskeeper, Judd (Joseph Mawle) didn't fight in the war and feels guilty and resentful towards Mallory for being seen as a war hero. The film opens with Florence exposing an elaborate fake seance and, as the fraudulent mediums are lead away by the police, she is slapped in the face by the grieving mother who had paid for the seance, and has had her last hope ripped from her. She receives angry letters from people enraged by her book which debunks the supernatural and any idea of an afterlife. However Florence herself has a deep need to believe, and she investigates mediums an hauntings desperately hoping to find one that is genuine. The film uses a washed out colour palette, and everything looks gloomy, grey and cold, and almost everyone in the (all white) cast looks practically translucent. The film was directed by Nick Murphy, whose background is largely in television, and indeed it does often look and feel like classy TV movie although it did have a theatrical release. The script was written by Murphy and horror veteran Stephen Volk, who is most famous for writing the controversial BBC drama Ghostwatch (1992), and it is reminiscent of the works of M. R. James, Ramsey Campbell, Shirley Jackson and Henry James. The film falls apart somewhat towards the end where there are several twists that defy credibility, and feel like they belong in a different film, and there is also a disturbing and intense scene where Florence is attacked. The ghost boy, with his distorted face, is only glimpsed briefly and at first it's startling but let down by unimpressive special effects. Rebecca Hall is very good as Florence, and the film is worth seeing for her performance alone. Dominic West is good in his typically gruff, period drama role as the teacher, turned paranormal investigator, even if he would rather be investigating Florence. Imelda Staunton is as impressive as ever in the supporting role of housekeeper Maud, who is a fan of Florence's work. Isaac Hempstead-Wright, who is probably most famous as Bran Stark in Game of Thrones (2010-2019), plays a lonely pupil who forms a bond with Florence. This is a far from perfect film, but then it is by no means bad either. It has some great performances, particularly Rebecca Hall's. It's certainly worth watching if you're a fan of elegant ghost stories.
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