Starring: George MacKay, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Mia Goth, Matthew Stagg, Tom Fisher, Nicola Harrison, Kyle Soller
Director: Sergio G. Sanchez
Release date: 13th July 2018
It’s 1969 and four siblings and their mother, Rose arrive in America from England for a fresh start. They go to Rose’s family estate, which has been empty for 30 years and slowly make it into their new home. The mother is very ill and on her deathbed she makes the brothers and sister all promise that they will stay together until Jack (George MacKay) is 21 years old. While out exploring, they meet a local girl called Allie (Anya Taylor-Joy) and the 5 soon become firm friends. Flash forward to 6 months later and the family are well settled in but trying to keep totally off the radar of anyone outside. Allie and Jack have become ‘very good friends’ and begin to spend a lot of time together. The siblings soon begin hearing strange noises and noticing strange happenings. What are these unexplained noises and what does the presence they can feel want?
The film is an English language Spanish drama, bought to you by the same guys that gave us ‘A Monster Calls’, ‘The Orphanage’ and the new ‘Jurassic Park – Fallen Kingdom’ movies. It had its premiere in the Special Presentations section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.
I am really not a big fan of the horror genre and so tend to approach films like this one with a bit of apprehension. What started out as possibly just your run of the mill horror/ suspense movie, actually turned into something very special. The central character of Jack is pretty much keeping the family together, and the more you get to know and understand the characters, the more you appreciate them. You then have the token ‘jealous suitor’ in the form of the Marrowbone’s lawyer, Tom Porter who has designs on Allie but soon discovers that she is in love with someone else.
It’s a movie that will keep you guessing, right up to the very end, and it’s not until near the end that you fully understand what has been going on. Each family member has their role to play and there are little ‘white flags’ throughout which if you blink, you’ll miss them.
‘The Secret of Marrowbone’ might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I absolutely loved it. I genuinely hope that this does really well at the box office, because it’s just an amazing story. There are a few jumpy bits in it but don’t let that put you off. Give ‘The Secret of Marrowbone’ a watch and fall in love with it like I did.
Overall: 9/10
