Kate Mandell takes a job as a live-in governess caring for two orphaned children at an isolated country mansion. She learns that the children's previous governess, Miss Jessel, left suddenly and that the children's riding instructor died recently, leaving both children distressed. Strange things start to happen around the property and Kate comes to believe that the house is haunted.
Mackenzie Davis as Kate.
The Turning (2020) is a modern adaptation of the novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. It's a much more faithful adaptation than the TV series The Haunting of Bly Manor , which was released in the same year because it retains the creepy ambiguity of the book. While there certainly seem to be strange things going on, it is unclear whether Kate is really being haunted by ghosts or if what is happening is all in her head.
The film was directed by Floria Sigismondi (director of The Runaways) and stars Mackenzie Davis (from Freaks of Nature ) as Kate. Finn Wolfhard (from Stranger Things and Ghostbusters: Afterlife) is unsettling as Miles.
Finn Wolfhard as Miles.
I think I could maybe put up with a few ghosts for this.
The film is visually striking, with the sumptuous interior of the old house and its equally opulent grounds. The visual effects are mostly fairly subtle, except for one scene with a disembodied hand which was too reminiscent of the Addams Family to be anything but funny. There is very little in the way of blood, but annoyingly there are a few jump scares. Overall I found it quite creepy.
Content warning: Spiders, supernatural horror, violence against women, animal cruelty.
The Turning is an unusually ambiguous horror film that will appeal to people who don't mind an ending that isn't too neat.