The Secret of Marrowbone has some atmospheric moments, but too many boring stretches, predictable plot twists, haunted house clichés and jump scares make for an underwhelming film.
In late 60s rural America, Rose moves herself and four children from England to Marrowbone House, her childhood farmhouse, to escape her violent husband. Unfortunately, Rose's poor health catches up with her, and she dies leaving 20-year-old Jack in charge, who decides to keep her death a secret until he turns 21 so that the family can stay together. Jack falls in love with the local librarian Allie (Anya Taylor-Joy) but has a rival in the shape of a creepy lawyer, who thinks something isn’t quite right at Marrowbone House. And, he may have a point, given the creepy noises coming from the attic.
The chief problem lies with the script by Sergio Sánchez, which gives us a potentially intriguing premise but never really delivers a satisfying payoff. When the plot twists come, they are often telegraphed in advance, and too often ludicrous. In addition, it never properly establishes the characters or gives us chance to feel any emotion towards them.
Sanchez also directs, so the blame lies with him for the shrill overacting from the main characters, and the reliance on jump scares and other stale hackneyed elements (spooky mirrors, bricked up rooms etc).
On the plus side the locations look wonderful, with the lush countryside and the Grey Gardens style dilapidated farmhouse contrasting with the white picket fence suburban world that Jack and the others have cut themselves off from.
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