Excellent acting. The plot is odd, but appears to be a haunting by a little boy who became intrigued with 200-year-old mansion.

This oddly acted uncertainly directed curio is neither ghost story nor romance. A vast house seems to be cursed - but by what? A dour and humourless doctor (Domhnall Gleeson, miscast) arrives to treat a maid and then various members of the unhappy family who live there and have allowed the house to rot. The son (Will Poulter, miscast and rather over-egging the shell-shocked soldier) has a sister (Ruth Jones) and neurotic mother (Charlotte Rampling, rather wasted). It's all a bit humourless and derivative, and the British accents could have come out of a French and Saunders skit.

The book is amazing. The movie is terrible. Spoiler alert, by the way. One of the things that I think is so terrible about the movie is that it cuts out so much of the relationship-building between the characters in the beginning. But I think that part of it is key, because I think that the relationships between people is what makes the story important in the first place. In the book, the reader doesn't realize that the main character is obsessed with the house and making friends with the family for the wrong reason, until pretty far into the story. I think it's one of the better features of the story that, about 13 or 14 chapters in you're putting your hand to your eyes and groaning sympathetically for everyone involved. I think that the producers of the movie really underestimate the patience and intelligence of their audience.

#MovieReview #TheLittleStranger "The Little Stranger" left me feeling underwhelmed and unengaged, failing to capture my interest throughout the film. Despite my efforts to find entertainment in it, I struggled to identify a compelling aspect that would hold my attention. The ending of the movie left me overly confused and disappointed, lacking coherence with the rest of the story and ultimately falling flat. Instead of feeling immersed in the film, I found myself disconnected and disengaged, as if being lectured on historical details rather than being entertained. The movie seemed to force its themes and narrative onto the audience, leading to a sense of artificiality rather than genuine entertainment. It failed to evoke the old-time feeling of engagement and instead felt like a tedious and uninspiring experience. In conclusion, "The Little Stranger" may not be the best choice for a captivating movie night. If you're looking for a film that lulls you into a nap, this may fit the bill.

I was looking forward to a good, intelligent, old fashioned ghost story - perhaps a little scary, definitely atmospheric, certainly haunting. But was unfortunately unsurprised to find yet another fumbled horror story that made no sense whatsoever. Was it the ghost of a long dead little girl who had shown no violent tendencies in life but was now a psycho in death? Was it a curse on the house? Was it the dog? Was it . . . oh, who cares! It started badly for me in the first scene. Dr. Faraday was played by Domhnall Gleeson in apparent homage to the serious, stiff, poker-faced member of the Sparks pop duo from the 70s. And he didn't get any better. He seemed not to want to bend as you normally do and had such restricted movement, I wondered if this was because something essential would drop out if he wasn't careful. And his general effect was incredibly, totally boring. I felt devastated at one point when I found I was only a third of the way through the film. There was no character in his character. He was life extinct. In fact, there was no colour or substance to any of the characters. None of them connected. They were individual and, largely, worthy actors needing to support their lives through a job. Any job. By the end, I felt I had been watching a long and boring plea for donations by a charity for actors. The 1.5 stars is made up of the house and a nod to the charity.

Being a fan of the three leads (Wilson, Gleeson & Rampling), I watched this with some high hopes but came away disappointed.

Unoriginal horror film with a meaningless plot and too dark a photograph. The film offers some beautiful and entertaining moments, but that pale in comparison to moments without too much sense and without attractiveness.

To put this under the "Horror" genre is just false advertising.

Keeps you guessing to the end.

Seldom have I seen such a pointless and boring film. Best avoided at all costs. Nearly two hours of my life I will never get back.

Waaay too drawn out. Some great bits throughout but a really unsatisfying ending.

Period Horror Mystery ‘The Little Stranger' Favors Slow-Build Chills Steeped in Ambiguity

It was slow yet interesting and made me want to see what's going to happen next however I had to read the director's review to understand everything. The messages about the alter ego, social class and repression were clear though.

So boring with a blah unsurprising ending.

I can never get those hrs back

Not a fan of period pieces but this was thorough and effective although incredibly slow as expected. Characterisation was good, unsure if it should be classified as supernatural scary because the scariest thing is the fact they didn't have the internet. Pacing was frustratingly slow, but even. It's 2/3 of the way through before they concur there's a presence in the house but the times state admitting that is shameful. Then the whole thing becomes about the guy trying to get married. I honestly don't know what happened by the end. And I can't get 2 hours of my life back.

Like in all the best horror stories, the monster operates as a symbol of something wrong in the characters' lives. Since this is a Gothic horror story, it's a symbol of the past; the characters are haunted by their inability to let go and move on. As the film goes on, Farraday's motives and actions become more and more questionable, and you start to wonder whether you can really trust him as a narrator.

With a slow pace and harrowing setting, this movie will keep you on the edge until the big reveal that is too subtle to notice.

It doesn't offer much of what you want. That's all I can say.

What an incredible WASTE of time, talent and money. A complete snooze fest - and don't expect some amazing ending, there isn't one.