The British adaptation of the wildly popular French show has begun production in London with a cast that includes Lydia Leonard, Jack Davenport, and Jim Broadbent.
The Little Stranger. But as any guest of Netflix’s Bly Manor can attest, restraint has its drawbacks. There’s a fine line between classily understated and boring.
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Thankfully, boring is one word you couldn’t use to describe
The Banishing, which defies expectations of understated British horror with giallo maximalism. Where so many directors would have made one choice, Christopher Smith (
Black Death) makes 10: Mirrors! Dolls! Masochist monks! Bishop gangsters! Nazis! Time travel? Poltergeists! Child possession! A critique of Neville Chamberlain’s pre-WWII policy of pacifism! The patriarchy! And on and on. Over its modest runtime, the film keeps cramming in new ideas and plot elements, right up until the penultimate scene.