Written by Mike Flanagan And James Flanagan And Diane Ademu-John And Laurie Penny And Angela LaManna And Rebecca Leigh Klingel And The Clarkson Twins And Leah Fong And Julie Bicknell
Directed by Mike Flanagan And Ciaran Foy And Liam Gavin And Yolanda Ramke And Ben Howling And Axelle Carolyn And E.L. Katz
Dani: "It's you. It's me. It's us."
Following the mass success of The Haunting Of Hill House, I'm not surprised that for seconds, Mike Flanagan went for another creepy homely setting. Only this time, the setting was UK bound, albeit with some US influence too.
The influence being our protagonist Danielle 'Dani' Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) who finds herself escaping her own past trauma by moving to London and being interviewed by rich guy Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas/Duncan Fraser). She ended up getting the au pair gig at the titular Bly Manor, having to look after the children Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth/Thomas Nicholson) and Flora (Amelie Bea Smith/Christie Burke).
As kids, both Flora and Miles turn out to be a handful, constantly acting strangely and generally stressing the shit out of Dani before it's later revealed in the miniseries that their strange behaviour was largely influenced by the many ghosts that haunt Bly Manor. Yup, this place was a real hotbed for spooky goings on dating all the way to the late 17th century.
Ghosts in particular that proved to be a major problem included the antagonistic former valet/conman Peter Quint (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and the Lady In The Lady/Viola Willoughby (Kate Siegel). The former's toxic relationship with the previous au pair, Rebecca Jessel (Tahirah Sharif) was as anti couple goals as you could get, not to mention his frequent possession of Miles was even creepier in context of his own abused backstory.
The penultimate episode pivoting it's focus on Viola Willoughby and experimenting with a black and white format made for the best episode of the bunch. That episode was so good it could've been it's own movie if I'm being perfectly honest. Also the way both Dani and Viola would eventually tie into one another certainly ended the show on a bittersweet note.
Then there's Dani herself. She's the closest to a protagonist the miniseries has and her flashback episode involving former childhood sweetheart Edmund (Robby Atal) was another highlight. Dani's romance with gardener Jamie Taylor (Amelia Eve/Carla Gugino) was a beautifully written love story, played to perfection by Victoria Pedretti and Amelia Eve.
As for other characters, there was a sort of bubbling romance between housekeeper Hannah Grose (T'Nia Miller) and chef Owen Sharma (Rahul Kohli). Hannah's story, particularly in the fifth episode had the show really lean into the non linear timeline and ultimately, it's her along with Dani that ended up breaking the Bly Manor curse.
- Episode titles are The Great Good Place, The Pupil, The Two Faces Part One, The Way It Came, The Altar Of The Dead, The Jolly Corner, The Two Faces Part Two, The Romance Of Certain Old Clothes and The Beast In The Jungle.
- The season actually had Carla Gugino physically appear in only the first and last episodes as the older Jamie but provide voiceover for every episode.
- Katie Parker also appeared briefly as Viola's younger sister, Perdita in the penultimate episode. She did everything to replace her sister, only to be killed by the latter's ghost.
- Yes, it's an adaptation of Henry James's The Turn Of The Screw, albeit with some creative changes.
- Standout music: The Newton Brothers deliver again, particularly with the Main Titles, Perfectly Splendid, I Couldn't Sleep, It's You It's Me It's Us and Love Story.
- Chronology: Bly Manor, outside of London in both 1987 and the late 1600s as well as North California in 2007 for Flora's wedding.
As a follow up series, I did enjoy The Haunting Of Bly Manor. Granted some of the American actors doing English accents did slightly jar a bit. However, the main stories managed to engage and the flashbacks for Dani, Peter, Hannah and Viola were among the best material along with the Dani/Jamie love story.
Rating: 8 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment