Director Edoardo Vitaletti stokes up the menace in this visually striking but underwhelming tale of two girls who seek revenge on their puritanical family
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Mary can no longer see: her eyes are covered by a blindfold, blood is dripping from her sockets on to her cheeks. With this chilling image the movie begins; but only at the end do we learn how Mary has been blinded – and what she saw. Though by this point, there are cracks in the icy mood of this austere, slow-paced horror.
It is set in 1840s rural
New York where the story unfolds in flashback, claustrophobically confined to a single house. Young Mary (Stefanie Scott) has been caught in flagrante with the family’s maid Eleanor (Isabelle Fuhrman) and her God-fearing parents inflict “correctional” punishment on the girls: forcing them to kneel painfully on rice for hours. This all feels a bit familiar: fire-and-brimstone preaching; evil done in the name of our Lord; puritanical starched collars and severe hair partings. But first-time director Edoardo Vitaletti really stokes up the menace. Cinematographer David Kruta lights faces by candle; there are images here with the richness of portraits, characters’ eyes glistening with malignant fervour.