The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw

Movie spotlight

The Turn of the Screw

2009
Movie
89 min
English

In a mid-19th century Essex country house, a young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed.

Insights

IMDb5.7/10
Director: Often attributed to a directorial team or sometimes simply Genres: Horror, Thriller, Drama

Plot Summary

A young governess, Anne, takes a job caring for two orphaned children, Miles and Flora, at a remote country estate called Bly. As she settles in, Anne begins to experience unsettling events and sees apparitions that she believes are the ghosts of former employees. She becomes convinced the children are being influenced by these spirits and that their innocence is at risk.

Critical Reception

The 2009 adaptation of 'The Turn of the Screw' received mixed to positive reviews, with many critics praising its atmospheric tension and visual style. Some found the interpretation of the classic novella to be effective in its modernizing approach to the psychological horror, while others felt it deviated too much from the source material's ambiguity.

What Reviewers Say

  • Praised for its unsettling atmosphere and effective scares.

  • Commended for a modern take on a classic ghost story.

  • Some found the narrative less ambiguous than the original novella.

Google audience: Audience reviews for this adaptation are largely absent or difficult to aggregate, making it hard to determine specific likes or dislikes.

Fun Fact

This adaptation is one of many retellings of Henry James's influential 1898 novella, known for its psychological depth and ambiguous supernatural elements.

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