There’s an aura that flows through The Little Stranger, and it’s made up of boredom. Patience will undoubtedly be put to the test waiting for anything to happen. Director Lenny Abrahamson goes from the remarkable Room and walks straight into a hollow haunted house thriller. He knows how to set the mood, but has a rough time getting the characters and pace to click to tell a satisfying spooky story. Just so we’re clear—the scares are very scarce.
Dr. Faraday (Domhnall Gleeson) once visited Hundreds Hall, a beautiful home that’s belonged to the Ayres family for centuries and where his mother use to work, as a young boy and was entranced at first sight. All grown up, he returns to help Roderick Ayres (Will Poulter), the shell shocked man of the house whom is covered in burn scars and drinking is his coping mechanism. His sister Caroline (Ruth Wilson) comes across as the most competent and catches Faraday’s eye almost immediately. However, there’s nothing homely about these two love birds’ relationship.
Roderick and Caroline’s mother (Charlotte Rampling) still rules the roost, but her house has seen better days. It’s nothing close to what Faraday fell in love with. Decorated in decay from the inside out, the family is living in doom and gloom. And did you know she lost her eight year-old daughter Susan too? Well, perhaps this explains those unexplainable occurrences that has the Ayres all shook up. Faraday plainly has his work cut out for him in finding answers in a place he’s always dreamed about as it faces its own demise.
Poulter’s scenes are the best and are early on when hopes are still high. Wilson is stellar as the only person with a defiant spirit, unwilling to give in to expectations. While perhaps on purpose, Gleeson plays it stiff with a notion of frequently being fed up. Not nearly as much as the audience I bet. Abrahamson is too late to make it all make sense, and by tossing in the faintest hint as a last ditch effort to shock us is a careless cop-out.
The Little Stranger is not a thoughtful ghost story. It’s a lifeless one.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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