A psychological thriller/horror flick in the giallo mold.
Ellie is a young woman from a rural area heading to the big city (London) to study fashion. She can see things such as what appears to be the ghost of her departed mother. After a bad experience in the dorms, Ellie rents a room that shines and she has dreams/visions of another young woman named Sandie in the Swingin' Sixties. Sandie gets ensnared in the clutches of a pimp played by Matt Smith. It was great to see Smith in a role very much the opposite of the Doctor.
Great use of music and a wonderful soundtrack. (James Ray's "I've Got My Mind Set on You"!) The dance scene is spectacular. I wonder how much of it, if any, was CGI. It did look at times that the actresses were just gracefully going in and out of frame. Good to see Terence Stamp and Diana Rigg.
I liked this movie and think that I will write about at length at some point. Two final thoughts.
First, the actress who portrays Ellie, Thomasin McKenzie, has a very childlike voice and this unsuspended my disbelief at times. I wanted to yell "Speak like a woman!". There was just something about the incongruity between the face of a young woman and the voice of a 4-year old that I found annoying.
Second are the number and frequency of scenes where Ellie is haunted by the ghosts of certain men from the past. I just felt like I was being bashed over the head with them.
Otherwise, there's great performances and cinematography and just a lot to like.
More another time.
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