Delayed Reaction: Marrowbone

The Pitch: It'll be a sort of haunted house story, but possibly supernatural. And everyone has a secret. And there's a book. Sort of a horror movie cocktail.

After the death of their mother, four siblings try to live in hiding from the government long enough for the oldest brother to adopt them. Meanwhile, there's something not right in that house.

Marrowbone checks a lot of my horror movie boxes. It has a period setting. It doesn't over-rely on jump scares. Instead, it carries a sense of looming dread throughout; like something bad could happen at any moment, but nothing bad has to happen at any moment. It has a great cast. Horror movies are great at finding young talent, since they are normally looking for actors who audiences don't associate with any other roles or characters yet. Out of Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth, and Charlie Heaton, Goth probably had the biggest profile at the time this was filmed, and that's only if you follow Lars von Trier films closely.

It's not that surprising that J.A. Bayona was a producer on this. Marrowbone reminded me a lot of The Orphanage. Similar period. Both rely on the creaks of an old house for scares. And, the way the stories reveal themselves at the end is similar. I do think this movie will be more appealing to people like me who are able to turn the "find the twist" part of their brains off. I enjoyed letting the third act surprise me, but I know it's hard for some people to stop looking at stories as a puzzle. It may also be a little dull for some. If you came away from The Witch wishing more had actually happened, you should steer clear of this. Personally, The Witch is one of my favorite horror movies of the last few years, so Marrowbone was exactly what I was looking for.

Verdict: Strongly Recommend