'The Secret Of Marrowbone (2018)' is full of good ideas, most of which are unfortunately executed slightly poorly. It isn't until the flick's finale that any of these ideas conflate into something worthwhile, something that provokes a genuine - and even guttural - reaction when it occurs, but even this is marred by a certain feeling of unoriginality, if not quite predictability, and an incredibly silly conceit, the absurdity of which is especially evident in retrospect and takes away from the initial proper horror of certain elements involving it. The eponymous 'secret' also falls apart slightly because of its representation and, to a degree, the execution of its reveal, as opposed to its concept or even necessarily its wider implications. To be fair, it does liven up proceedings - essentially paying you back for your previous 'good faith' during the piece's duller moments. It adds another layer to a picture that constantly toes the line of being too generic to stand apart from the crowd, giving it that special something to compound its 'worth' and make it feel like it was, at least, worth your time. Ironically, it makes it seem like it's trying to ape a certain subsection of its genre (one filled with many better, and inevitably more original, films) in the process, though. Some moments of the feature also fail to live up to scrutiny in retrospect and the final message is mixed, to say the least, even if the movie would have you believe it is an entirely positive one. Still, at least the picture is interesting. 6/10
Review of Marrowbone
