About 15 years ago when mass layoffs hit newspapers, editors were encouraged to use the catchphrase “Do more with less.” It was idiotic in that context, and every remaining employee knew it, so it died out a couple waves of layoffs later. But the phrase stuck with me, and it actually does apply to 2018’s slow-burn horror film “Marrowbone.”
Suspense from subtraction
Sergio G. Sanchez, who also directs, writes a screenplay that aims to draw suspense from subtraction. Although every actor plays everything straight – they know what’s going on – the viewer is denied key knowledge.
The Marrowbone family – an ailing mom (Nicola Harrison) and four strapping kids ranging from near-adults to a young’un — has moved back into their home that’s sat untouched for 30 years. We don’t know why they were away, or why they came back. The off-screen patriarch was vaguely monstrous. Is he still alive? We’re not told.
“Marrowbone” (2018)
Director: Sergio G. Sanchez
Writer: Sergio G. Sanchez
Stars: George MacKay, Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth
This secretiveness struck me as a gimmick, but an intriguing one. The solid production – shot in sepia tones by Xavi Giménez in Spain (standing in for somewhere in the USA) — kept me expectant. Sanchez mostly delivers with a decent twist at the end, and before that he lightly taps into a vibe of childhood fears of big old houses.
Taylor-Joy goes back in time again
“Marrowbone” is set in the 1960s and co-stars period-piece queen Anya Taylor-Joy as Allie, who works in the library in the town a few miles away from the Marrowbones’ farmstead. But this isn’t the pastel world of “The Queen’s Gambit” or the neon streets of “Last Night in Soho.” The Sixties haven’t quite come to this rundown house where everyone wears homemade clothes.
The family gives off a “Tuck Everlasting” vibe with the way they all look out for each other and are suspicious of strangers. They meet Allie at a fantastical skull-shaped rock in the vast area between their properties. Although they all hit it off, it’s Jack (George MacKay) who especially likes Allie.
This peeves anger-prone brother Billy (Charlie Heaton, “Stranger Things”), but not necessarily because of jealousy – more because he is wary of interaction with the outside world.
Doing the twist
Meanwhile, the creaky house may be home, but it’s not the warmest place. The youths drape sheets over the mirrors as if they’re portals into hell. Sister Jane (Mia Goth, breakout star of this year’s “X”) comforts young Sam (Matthew Stagg) by hiding with him in a blanket fort.
The “horror” is mostly tame and generic, but “Marrowbone” does feature one solid scare that’s followed by Jane furiously scrubbing her skin. Combine this with a famous moment in “X” and Goth has been typecast as the horror heroine who gets creepily touched by unwanted hands.
Sanchez uses nooks and crannies to fine effect, notably an attic doorway the kids brick off. This location features in a well-edited climax where we finally do get answers. Present and past intermingle, but we keep it straight based on whether we see the door or the bricks.
The answer about what’s haunting the place is mundane, but a twist follows that’s more daring – although it’s in line with one famous genre film and several copiers. The revelation repositions the tale as one of mental illness, giving “Marrowbone” a theme and late-stage emotion.
So Sanchez ultimately does do more with less. And Taylor-Joy and Goth make this an interesting genre entry to dig up from the recent past. But it’s too sparse to rank among genre elites. After one viewing, you can bury it again.