I fully expected a movie along the lines of VVitch or Annihilation, and I wasn't disappointed. It's a bit horror movie, possibly a ghost story, maybe a murder mystery and much a gothic drama. The suspense builds from the overwhelming sense of foreboding. There's a malevolent presence but the source is just not clear. You're sure something is going to happen, it'll likely be bad, and you're not sure what it is or what the cause is. Some reviewers were confused by the switching back and forth between past and present, main character narrative, half followed leads and choppiness - I think it's there on purpose to throw off the viewer, and it worked. Is it supernatural, is it madness, is it the supernatural causing madness or madness causing the supernatural? It's hard to tell what's behind the events but the frequent often conflicting and ambivalent clues keep the audience involved and guessing.
Several themes are at play here - class conflict, the decline of England after the world wars, unrequited love, the fall of a once great family, child and teen angst, family/child/parent conflict and dysfunction, rural vs. city lifestyle, male/female conflict, and more. Some are explored more than others, but overall it adds to the complexity and depth of the movie. There's enough here to likely get most people out of their comfort zones at least part of the time.
The buildup is a bit slow - maybe not so much a pacing problem as a slow burn that several reviewers have noted. If you're expecting lots of fast, horror action, this isn't a film for you. If you're looking for complexity, a enigma, and something different, you may like this movie too.
Several themes are at play here - class conflict, the decline of England after the world wars, unrequited love, the fall of a once great family, child and teen angst, family/child/parent conflict and dysfunction, rural vs. city lifestyle, male/female conflict, and more. Some are explored more than others, but overall it adds to the complexity and depth of the movie. There's enough here to likely get most people out of their comfort zones at least part of the time.
The buildup is a bit slow - maybe not so much a pacing problem as a slow burn that several reviewers have noted. If you're expecting lots of fast, horror action, this isn't a film for you. If you're looking for complexity, a enigma, and something different, you may like this movie too.