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★★★☆☆
19 December 2017
A movie review of MARROWBONE a.k.a. THE SECRET OF MARROWBONE. |
“Have a safe space ready in case he finds you,” Rose (Nicola Harrison)
MARROWBONE is such an effective horror, but the finale is a hackneyed let-down. There was no need for a twist ending, but the worse crime is the revelation. You will be throwing popcorn at the screen, incredulous that this cliché was opted for. It has been done to death. Let it go filmmakers. MARROWBONE is the directorial debut of the writer of THE ORPHANAGE. Those who have sat tense through it will more than likely attest to the movie’s skill. Writer-director Sergio G. Sánchez thus should have known better. THE ORPHANAGE was part of an impressive Spanish horror wave: [REC], JULIA’S EYES and THE SKIN I LIVE IN.
MARROWBONE is such an effective horror, but the finale is a hackneyed let-down. There was no need for a twist ending, but the worse crime is the revelation. You will be throwing popcorn at the screen, incredulous that this cliché was opted for. It has been done to death. Let it go filmmakers. MARROWBONE is the directorial debut of the writer of THE ORPHANAGE. Those who have sat tense through it will more than likely attest to the movie’s skill. Writer-director Sergio G. Sánchez thus should have known better. THE ORPHANAGE was part of an impressive Spanish horror wave: [REC], JULIA’S EYES and THE SKIN I LIVE IN.
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Rose and her four offspring have left Britain for America, changing their surname. Escape across an ocean. Their father Simon Fairbairn (Tom Fisher) – who does not speak à la the Terminator - is a serial killer languishing in a British prison. Representing pure malevolence, he also abused his family. His shadow looms large across his their psyches. Post-traumatic stress is bone-deep for everyone bar the youngest, Sam (Matthew Stagg).
Seemingly free. Wounds perhaps beginning to mend. A summer idyll. It is in sharp contrast to what follows (and what has gone before). The last summer though with their mother. July 1969, eldest son Jack (George MacKay) has to keep Rose’s passing a secret until he reaches the age of majority, otherwise they will become wards of the state and probably separated. Once 21, he can be his siblings’ legal guardian. They have to stay under the radar as the months tick down. Anxiety at this precarious situation is enhanced by lawyer Tom Porter (Kyle Soller) needing Rose’s witnessed signature to complete the estate. Porter is self-absorbed, disloyal, greedy, and brings the legal profession into disrepute.
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The family lives on an isolated farm. Nobody knows their past bar Porter, who thinks the mother is still alive. They even lie to Allie (Anya Taylor-Joy), Jack’s girlfriend. Only Jack gets to leave the farm. Billy (Charlie Heaton), with understandable anger control issues, is going stir crazy. Gentle, quiet sister Jane (Mia Goth) has layers of wounds. The moon landing is live on the TV; a big universe out there in sharp contrast to the cloying claustrophobia.
Watch-through-your-fingers suspense comes in the form of something unseen stalking them within their new home. Mirrors are covered to keep a mysterious spectre at bay in the creaky, dilapidated manor house. No electricity. They are playing a board game at night by candlelight. The dice go down the stairs. Sam is told to get them. My notes taken at the showing say, “scary as f*ck”. That is what makes the film so disappointing, well-crafted atmosphere and accomplished acting give way to a deeply unsatisfying climax. The dialogue also winningly sidesteps perfunctory exposition. At least for director Sergio G. Sánchez, MARROWBONE is a calling card. That’s not good enough for a cine-literate audience though.
What is haunting them? It is felt all the more because you care for them. When will their ordeal be over? They are assailed from all sides. A look at family trauma via genre, MARROWBONE might have been one of the best horror films of the year.
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