THE LITTLE STRANGER

This old house…

Little ghost, big frights?

OUT 21 SEPTEMBER

After the controlled emotions of his Emma Donoghue adap Room, Lenny Abrahamson twists a chillier novel into unexpected shapes with similar assurance. Based on Sarah Waters’ 2009 gothic mystery, the 1947-set film is a ghost story with socio-historical issues: like The Innocents via The Go-Between, it navigates character and class, spooks and psychosis with a sure grip.

Domhnall Gleeson projects pinched detachment as Dr. Faraday, a GP called to a country house he revered as a lowerclass child. With Hundreds Hall in decline, Faraday becomes drawn to its owners, Mrs. Ayres (Charlotte Rampling), son Rod (Will Poulter) and – especially – brusque daughter Caroline (Ruth Wilson). As odd occurrences mount, Faraday’s literalism is challenged: what sickness is Hundreds conducting?

Though Abrahamson sometimes sustains his enigmas too well, holding us back when we want to feel or fear more, he and writer Lucinda Coxon unpick expectation with precision. After It or Hereditary, the scares seem light. But that distance is crucial to maintaining Waters’ queasy ambiguities, which Abrahamson honours in revelations that linger like old resentments. Kevin Harley

THE VERDICT

The clammy passageways of this chiller merit investigation. Gleeson and Wilson summon the right air of unease.

There was no denying it; he found those shoulder pads deeply troubling.