The Turning (2020) Review

We saw The Turning in theaters and it’s got a ton of jumpscares and some great acting, but it is hamstrung by a script that never had a clue where it was going despite having a very clear and high-quality roadmap of the story that it was based upon – The Turn of the Screw.

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The Turning Trailer

The Turning Synopsis

While I
have never read the 1898 novella, The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, I have
a feeling that it would not lend itself to the silver screen without a fair
amount of changes to the original story to make it more appealing for audiences
today. After having read some briefs and synopses of the novella, this movie
mimics it almost point for point. 

We have a young teacher,
Kate (Mackenzie Davis), who is hired on a palatial estate to teach and
govern a young child, Flora (Brooklynn Prince). There is one other inhabitant on the grounds,
Mrs. Grose, who is the cook and maid.

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After a
short time, Flora’s teenage brother, Miles (Finn Wolfhard) appears following being expelled from school. He
is quickly set up to be the antagonist of the story, seemingly very crude,
lude, and rapey.

The story
of Kate then unravels itself in shockingly slow, slow motion that is fraught
with the most exhausting bevy of jumpscares and twisty-turny bologna that I can
recall.

The ghost
of the previous teacher is hanging around, and the ghost of her killer, Miles
friend, Quint, is too. 

The Turning Review

I would be
lying if I told you I understood what exactly there was to be scared of in this
movie. I believe The Turn of the Screw was originally a very well written
spooky ghost story. This movie is not adapted well to the big screen, probably
because it didn’t expand much on the original novella. 

The acting
was actually pretty good, especially from both child actors, and the setting
was pretty effective as well. The script was the real issue here, as there is
just nothing around for it to hang its hat on and make it memorable or
interesting.

A better version of
roughly this same story, is found in 2018’s The Little Stranger. The Little Stranger
understood ambiguity and how to use it. Is the main character losing his mind
or is this place haunted? I think ambiguity is what the source material is
about, and it’s replaced in The Turning by confusion.

Score

4/10

Spoilers

Click to Expand for Spoilers

Kate is called to act as the new governess for the children,
who are recently orphaned. More to the point, she is supposed to watch Flora
and later Miles shows up because it is revealed that he is expelled from his
school for shocking violence.

Wait… You know it might just be easier if you read the
actual plot of The Turn of the Screw novella from this Wikipedia
article. Yes, this movie occurs in almost exactly the same timeline as that
section of the wiki. Seem uninspired? Yeah, it kind of is.

The Jumpscares

There are lots of jumpscares in this movie, some good, some
not so good. But there are tons! There are so many jumpscares that I started to
become shellshocked, or at least exhausted by them.

Every day in the story contains light frivolity and a pang
of weirdness, and every night contains a healthy dose of jumpscares and dark
hallways.

The House

This house is seriously huge and suffers from a major case
of spooky house syndrome (SHS). It’s got lights that turn on and off for no
reason, sewing machines the pop to life, and dozens of mannequins ready to
terrify as Kate backs into them, one after another.

While the house is plenty spooky, it’s not utilized in the
way that it could have been. There is an eerie line delivered at the start of
the movie by one of the children about the East wing. “We don’t go there.” The ‘why’
to that could have been explored and expanded upon to such a degree that the
movie would be substantive.

The Lack of Ambiguity

The thing that made the original story work, from what I
have read, is ambiguity. There is supposed to be a question of whether or not
this house is haunted or whether Kate is losing her mind. Is young Miles
actually a terror who wants to have sex with his governess or is he being
controlled by the spirit of Quint?

None of this ambiguity makes it to the audience in The
Turning. Instead, it’s a mishmash of confusing maybe-it-happened
maybe-it-didn’t dream sequences and nightmares.

The End

Holy hell. First, we get a false ending. Kate drives the
kids off of the property under extreme duress and escapes. But then she wakes
up and is scolded for being crazy by the children and the maid.

There is a half-baked attempt to suggest that Kate is exactly
as her mother is – totally insane, then the movie ends.

There is no follow-through, no explanation – it just ends.

Final Recommendations

Kids and teens might be in over their heads in terms of scares with The Turning, but I think the PG-13 rating makes it for them more than anyone else. If you have a well-refined bullshit-o-meter, stay away.

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