X
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Brainstorm Media
- 1 h 35 m
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Brainstorm Media
- 1 h 35 m
Summary Merricat, Constance and their Uncle Julian live in isolation after experiencing a family tragedy six years earlier. When cousin Charles arrives to steal the family fortune, he also threatens a dark secret they've been hiding.
Directed By: Stacie Passon
Written By: Mark Kruger, Shirley Jackson
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Brainstorm Media
- 1 h 35 m
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Brainstorm Media
- 1 h 35 m
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
63
5.3
Where to Watch
Summary Merricat, Constance and their Uncle Julian live in isolation after experiencing a family tragedy six years earlier. When cousin Charles arrives to steal the family fortune, he also threatens a dark secret they've been hiding.
Directed By: Stacie Passon
Written By: Mark Kruger, Shirley Jackson
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
63
75% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
25% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
63
75% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
25% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The performances are buttressed by a production that subtly underscores the intentions of both the characters and the plot, from the costumes by Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh (“Love & Friendship”) to the score from Andrew Hewitt (“The Stanford Prison Experiment”), which coax the film along to where it’s going without ever being too obvious about it.
Incorporating elements of drama and suspense, Passon’s pic avoids directly confronting her heroines' covertly sociopathic tendencies, preferring to view them as the outcome of internalized trauma rather than criminal intent.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 22 User Ratings
5.3
27% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
55% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
18% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 22 User Ratings
5.3
27% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
55% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
18% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
If you come into this film with expectations, or develop any through the course of viewing it, you may readily find disappointment. One must enjoy it for what it is rather than what one might wish. The consensus on this film is unfortunately quite understandable. A pity, since this happens to be a lovely little picture with some fine acting acting and excellent production value. A treat for the appreciative.
Report
A very serviceable, atmospheric retelling of the plot of Jackson's classic novel. This film is well-crafted, brilliantly performed, and stylistically effective. However, there is a unique, disturbing, off-kilter quality to the novel, giving it power and depth, that cannot be recaptured through a visual medium. Through no fault of its own, the film falls just short of the mark.
Report
Under Stacie Passon’s precise direction, this gothic fable of isolation and violence expertly treads a fine line between tragedy and camp.
While the overwrought dialogue does test attention spans, its prevailing message — humanity is malignant and inherently wicked— and the hint of something more cryptic makes Passon’s film beautifully disturbing.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle isn’t for the torture porn crowd, and R-rated horror fanatics will no doubt find it dull. They won’t be totally in the wrong for thinking so. But the rest of us can appreciate the chill and growing dread that only a most sympathetic Shirley Jackson adaptation can deliver, that only a production as accomplished as this can manage.
While having all the key elements of a mystery, director Stacie Passon’s film is more a character study focusing on themes of the safety of sisterhood and self-imposed alienation.
Heightened but airless, this “Castle” is like a checklist of the novel’s peculiarities, rather than its singular soul brought to life.
Functional but hardly. It's too slow for its own good and because of that it feels longer than it really is.
This is also aggravated because the story itself never seems to go anywhere and although it tries for its style and how well it's filmed, the narrative never gets you involved.
Taissa Farmiga stands out and makes it clear that she can be looking for better options while Alexandra Daddario may be very beautiful but she simply doesn't deliver the goods.
Report
Mindless drivel for 90 minutes. I wish I could get a refund from red box. I love Taissa Farmiga but the acting was
Report
