Holiday

Starring

Mia Wasikowska – Edith Cushing
Jessica Chastain – Lucille Sharpe
Tom Hiddleston – Thomas Sharpe
Charlie Hunnam – Dr. Alan McMichae

Summary

“In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds – and remembers.”

– From IMDB.com

Review

I originally saw this movie about two years ago but never really thought, or connected, it to the fact that it was a Halloween movie, so everyone was talking about it recently so of course, I had to get it again.

Visually stunning.
The colors in this movie are just gorgeous. It’s so atmospheric with some of the scenes, with the reds and the teals. And I mean the house, ugh, so photo worthy. I would move in, not caring about the ghosts, just wanting to take photos everywhere. It’s got this perfect old feel, that it has aged well, without it being too dilapidated – barring the massive hole in the roof. The colors were so beautiful and then you had the ghosts themselves, unlike any other one that I have seen before. Keep in mind that it was made by Guillermo del Toro, who is known for “dark, fantastical films such as Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy” (Architectural Digest).

The actors were good.
I did really quite like the actors who were chosen to portray the characters, although a few times I wanted to smack Edith for some of the things that she did. It was silly little mistakes and you wanted to shake her for being so naive, but sadly, it’s a movie and you can’t do that. Tom Hiddleston was perfect as this charming male who was supposed to woo all of these women for their money and their souls. He’s an attractive actor and that, coupled with the accent, was the perfect combination to be this kind of ‘bad guy’ who grew a conscience.

The story had a few holes.
There were a few holes in the story that did bother me, such as the machine they were building to extract the clay. It was a silly little reason for Thomas Sharpe to be traveling around, but it was an excuse for him to meet women around the world. For me, I think a better reason could have been chosen but it kind of worked, although it ultimately wasn’t talked about later in the movie.

Quite dark, but perfectly proportioned.
It was a dark movie, overall, with some of the themes. There was some violence and blood involved, so that’s the reason it was rated R. There is two sex scenes, probably the main reason it is R as it was quite…adulty. But, other than that the movie was pretty okay. The ghosts were definitely creepy but this wasn’t a jump-scare kind of movie. It was all about the deep message behind what it happening and the psychological issues this Sharpe family has.

Overall, I thought it was a fantastic movie. Sure, it had a few holes in it and I would have loved for them to have ironed it out, but the music was fantastic, the cinematography was beautiful and the story, overall, was really well done. It’s a perfect movie for spooky season and I definitely recommend!

I give it 4/5 teacups!

Happy Watching!