279. The Secret of Marrowbone; movie review

THE SECRET OF MARROWBONE
Cert 15
110 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong threat, bloody injury detail

It has become a summer of separating wheat from a heck of a lot of chaff at the cinemas.
Thankfully, there are the occasional tasty morsels and, in my opinion, they include this unusual thriller.
Sergio G. Sánchez's The Secret Of Marrowbone is set in the late 1960s in rural America to where a sick mother (Nicola Harrison) and four children have escaped a murderous father.
During the early scenes, she dies and it is left to her eldest son (George Mackay) to keep the family together until he is 21 and can legally care for them.
However, two spectres loom large - that of a father who may or may not be dead and a local lawyer (Kyle Soller) who could upset their plans.
Mackay is a splendid young actor and hi character is at the heart of Sanchez's film, putting his life on the line to protect his siblings (Mia Goth, Charlie Heaton and Matthew Stagg).
Sanchez has created an atmosphere of trepidation by placing the family in a creaking home in remote countryside.
This means the intended shocks come from the usual bumps in the night at home and also the dangers which lurk amid caves and cliffs.
His pace is just right - Mackay's character even has time to court a local girl (Anya Taylor-Joy) as the sense of dread accrues.
Sánchez has succeeded in his aim to create a film with different layers but which ultimately comes back to the sibling bonds.
As an only child I would have struggled to empathise if I had not witnessed the coming together at times of crises of Mrs W's much bigger family.
It does seem that blood is, indeed, thicker than water but, in The Secret Of Marrowbone, some has be spilt for that to be proven.
It is a dark but well crafted suspense which has deserved greater success than it has achieved.

Reasons to watch: Cleverly crafted suspense
Reasons to avoid: Ponders too long over its opening.

Laughs: None
Jumps: Two
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Director quote - Sergio G. Sanchez: "Marrowbone is ultimately a film about the bonds that cannot be broken and the loss within the family. So I'm always trying to make films that are rich with different layers, and can be interpreted in more than one way."

The big question - Do ghosts exist?

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