Though it may not be the most famous piece of literature in the canon of western horror, Henry James's The Turn Of The Screw is still a pretty widely known and studied scary story. So there's a good chance you've encountered it in one way or another, be it in a class in school or one of its many direct or thematic adaptations in movies and TV (such as The Others, or The Innocents). All of which is to say The Turning isn't exactly trying to break new ground. Its only real goal ought to have been telling a familiar spooky story with a set of fresh faces. A low bar, to be sure--but, sadly, not one that it ever manages to clear.

Like the novella it's based on, The Turning is the story of a live-in nanny (Mackenzie Davis) named Kate on a job to mentor two eccentric wealthy children, Flora (Brooklyn Prince) and Miles (Finn Wolfhard), at their sprawling, isolated estate. The children recently lost their parents in a tragic accident, leaving them in the care of their severe-yet-all-too-forgiving caretaker, Mrs. Grose (Barbara Marten), who believes them both to be "thoroughbreds" and beyond any and all reproach. Naturally, things start to go south almost immediately as the kids begin pushing the limits of Kate's patience while the estate itself seems to slowly close in around her.

The Turning hopes to be one part psychological drama, one part classic gothic haunted house story, but it really only partially succeeds as the latter. The estate--Bly Manor in the book but never named in the film--is drenched in the sort of dusty, forgotten elegance that instantly gives it character. It feels like something that stepped directly out of the campy, over-the-top horror movies of the '90s and early '00s, like The Haunting or Rose Red, which is appropriate since the story has been updated to be a '90s period piece. Don't worry--you won't be able to miss that particular detail, between the first line of dialogue literally coming from a news report about a memorial service for the recently deceased Kurt Cobain or the persistent shots of Mackenzie Davis tromping around in shiny black Doc Martens. It's all very lush and faintly nostalgic, but sadly the only major win the movie is able to walk away with.

The rest of The Turning, from the performances to the story itself, is, frankly, a mess. The script admirably tries to thread the needle presented by James's novella and ask if Kate is simply going insane, victimized by the pressure of her job and her relentless need to prove herself capable of taking care of the two children, or if the supernatural experiences she keeps having are real, but the balancing act topples almost immediately. Instead of a nuanced "was it all in her head?" question, The Turning feels like a smattering of jump scares and audio stingers mixed with seemingly random, abrupt reminders that Kate apparently has some family history with mental illness. Davis, despite obviously doing her level best to imbue Kate with as many layers as possible, is dismally one note. Wolfhard, who absolutely looks the part of the menacing, sociopathic prep school child, seems to wander aimlessly from scene to scene. Prince, while absolutely adorable, never actually becomes a character with any defining traits or motivations beyond being cute.

Worse yet, the ghost story at the heart of it all crumbles under any level of scrutiny. Kate is plagued by visions of the children's former nanny, Miss Jessel, and the manor's former groundskeeper, Quint. There are a handful of attempts to give either of these characters an actual arc to follow--something for viewers to grab onto and invest in--but it never takes. Quint's apparently some sort of monstrous brute, but we never learn why. Jessel's fate is supposed to be a major mystery, but the eventual reveal is quite literally shrugged off as an aside. In the end it just doesn't matter if Kate's visions of Jessel and Quint are real or in her head because it's impossible to care about any of them.

The Turning is only a scant 94 minutes long, yet it somehow manages to feel inexplicably lengthy and boring. By the midway point, you'll be wondering why Kate is even there to begin with--a problem the movie tries to hamfistedly explain away with several frantic phonecalls between Kate and her old roommate, wherein she resolutely explains directly to the audience that she can't just leave because she made a promise to these kids she has no relationship with and only met a few days ago. As things begin to go completely off the rails, the movie only gets less and less coherent until, as abruptly as it starts, it ends. Almost as if the script forgot to have a finale altogether, the credits begin to roll, leaving the entire experience feeling like a waste of time.

Though it may not be the most famous piece of literature in the canon of western horror, Henry James's The Turn Of The Screw is still a pretty widely known and studied scary story. So there's a good chance you've encountered it in one way or another, be it in a class in school or one of its many direct or thematic adaptations in movies and TV (such as The Others, or The Innocents). All of which is to say The Turning isn't exactly trying to break new ground. Its only real goal ought to have been telling a familiar spooky story with a set of fresh faces. A low bar, to be sure--but, sadly, not one that it ever manages to clear.

Like the novella it's based on, The Turning is the story of a live-in nanny (Mackenzie Davis) named Kate on a job to mentor two eccentric wealthy children, Flora (Brooklyn Prince) and Miles (Finn Wolfhard), at their sprawling, isolated estate. The children recently lost their parents in a tragic accident, leaving them in the care of their severe-yet-all-too-forgiving caretaker, Mrs. Grose (Barbara Marten), who believes them both to be "thoroughbreds" and beyond any and all reproach. Naturally, things start to go south almost immediately as the kids begin pushing the limits of Kate's patience while the estate itself seems to slowly close in around her.

The Turning hopes to be one part psychological drama, one part classic gothic haunted house story, but it really only partially succeeds as the latter. The estate--Bly Manor in the book but never named in the film--is drenched in the sort of dusty, forgotten elegance that instantly gives it character. It feels like something that stepped directly out of the campy, over-the-top horror movies of the '90s and early '00s, like The Haunting or Rose Red, which is appropriate since the story has been updated to be a '90s period piece. Don't worry--you won't be able to miss that particular detail, between the first line of dialogue literally coming from a news report about a memorial service for the recently deceased Kurt Cobain or the persistent shots of Mackenzie Davis tromping around in shiny black Doc Martens. It's all very lush and faintly nostalgic, but sadly the only major win the movie is able to walk away with.

The rest of The Turning, from the performances to the story itself, is, frankly, a mess. The script admirably tries to thread the needle presented by James's novella and ask if Kate is simply going insane, victimized by the pressure of her job and her relentless need to prove herself capable of taking care of the two children, or if the supernatural experiences she keeps having are real, but the balancing act topples almost immediately. Instead of a nuanced "was it all in her head?" question, The Turning feels like a smattering of jump scares and audio stingers mixed with seemingly random, abrupt reminders that Kate apparently has some family history with mental illness. Davis, despite obviously doing her level best to imbue Kate with as many layers as possible, is dismally one note. Wolfhard, who absolutely looks the part of the menacing, sociopathic prep school child, seems to wander aimlessly from scene to scene. Prince, while absolutely adorable, never actually becomes a character with any defining traits or motivations beyond being cute.

Worse yet, the ghost story at the heart of it all crumbles under any level of scrutiny. Kate is plagued by visions of the children's former nanny, Miss Jessel, and the manor's former groundskeeper, Quint. There are a handful of attempts to give either of these characters an actual arc to follow--something for viewers to grab onto and invest in--but it never takes. Quint's apparently some sort of monstrous brute, but we never learn why. Jessel's fate is supposed to be a major mystery, but the eventual reveal is quite literally shrugged off as an aside. In the end it just doesn't matter if Kate's visions of Jessel and Quint are real or in her head because it's impossible to care about any of them.

The Turning is only a scant 94 minutes long, yet it somehow manages to feel inexplicably lengthy and boring. By the midway point, you'll be wondering why Kate is even there to begin with--a problem the movie tries to hamfistedly explain away with several frantic phonecalls between Kate and her old roommate, wherein she resolutely explains directly to the audience that she can't just leave because she made a promise to these kids she has no relationship with and only met a few days ago. As things begin to go completely off the rails, the movie only gets less and less coherent until, as abruptly as it starts, it ends. Almost as if the script forgot to have a finale altogether, the credits begin to roll, leaving the entire experience feeling like a waste of time.