Sergio G. Sánchez, writer of The Orphanage and The Impossible, takes on his first major, widely released work as director on this family-based mystery with a hint of a ghost story in the mix. Given the writer-director’s heritage, and the fact that the marketing emphasises the involvement of producers behind both The Orphanage and Pan’s Labyrinth, we’re immediately primed to expect something atmospheric and understated, combining childlike wonder with harsh reality, which raises questions about where the boundaries lie between fantasy and real life. However, as much as The Secret of Marrowbone is in a similar vein to the aforementioned films, it’s even more reminiscent of the wave of psychological ghost movies which came in the wake of The Sixth Sense, such as The Others and Identity. Whether or not this is a good thing may depend on how much affection you feel for that particular era in horror history; for myself, the most part I couldn’t get past the feeling that I’d seen it all before, and hadn’t liked it all that much in the first place.
The Secret of Marrowbone (originally entitled simply Marrowbone, not that either title sounds any less like it’s got something to do with dog food) centres on an English family, initially known as the Fairburns, who make a sudden and dramatic move to their mother’s childhood home, a large, crumbling country house on the outskirts of a remote small town, in upstate New York or thereabouts. As they enter, their mother (Nicola Harrison) declares that they will henceforth take the name of the house, Marrowbone, as their own, and start over with an entirely new life, leaving behind an apparently unspeakable past. The move and the name change are, it soon becomes clear, all to do with getting away from their absent father, and the family live in constant fear of what might happen should he find them. Alas, other concerns come to take precedence, as their mother, already in ill health, quickly deteriorates further, and soon enough she’s at death’s door. Anxious that her family should stay together at all costs, she tells her eldest son Jack (George MacKay) to bury her on the property and let no one on the outside know of her death until after his 21st birthday, when he can legally take on guardianship of his younger siblings Billy (Charlie Heaton), Jane (Mia Goth) and Sam (Matthew Stagg). Jack takes this promise very seriously indeed, even as the past and the world outside threatens to tear his fragile family asunder.
To address the most obvious key strength right away, The Secret of Marrowbone does boast an impressive young ensemble. The horror audience is, of course, most likely to be familiar with Charlie Heaton from his role on Stranger Things, Mia Goth from Nymphomaniac Vol 2, and Anna Taylor-Joy – playing a local girl who becomes a close friend of the Marrowbones – from The Witch and Split. However, the real focal point is George MacKay, with whom I’d been totally unfamiliar beforehand. While I’m not certain this is necessarily a star-making turn, the actor does a good job with what he’s given, which is ostensibly a fairly meaty role: a young man forced into patriarchal responsibilities before his time, torn between duty to his siblings and the desire to live a life of his own, specifically with Taylor-Joy’s love interest. Naturally, as things progress, it veers off into darker territory for all concerned, though it’s worth stressing that this is by no means a wall-to-wall chiller; for the most part it’s a largely grounded, character-based period drama, with only occasional allusions to a supernatural element which doesn’t really come to the forefront until the final act.
Yet, once again, it’s very hard to avoid the feeling that we’ve seen this all before, and never more so is this feeling prevalent than when the obligatory big twist rears its ugly head. This plot device is pretty much synonymous with the Shyamalan era, and I doubt I’m alone in saying I find it as grating now as I did then. These major revelations which are somehow supposed to elevate the whole viewing experience, adding further layers of depth and meaning, so often just feel a corny cop-out and leave you feeling cheated, and for me that’s very much the case with The Secret of Marrowbone, particularly given how certain aspects of the big reveal don’t make a great deal of sense. But then, ’twas ever thus. Still, those with a greater appreciation of late 90s/early 2000s ghost movies might well be satisfied.
The Secret of Marrowbone is available now on VOD and DVD from Entertainment One.