The Turning is based on the novella by Henry James called
‘The Turn of the Screw’, published in 1898.
The story has been adapted multiple times in its 200+ years, this includes ballet and opera, and has
inspired other gothic pieces of storytelling, like Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak.
In 1961, a movie starring Deborah Kerr titled
‘The Innocents’ was more of a psychological horror in comparison to this
film and was more clearly defining of the adaptation to James’s work. There is apparently an alternative ending to
the Turning , that has Kate (Mackenzie Davis) fleeing with the children, with Miles (Finn Wolfhard) unable to shake
his possession of the spirit of Peter Quint, and the film would leave us with
the cliffhanger of him being over taken.
The Premise: Jessel the children’s Governess flees the
estate one night, and appears to be captured by Quint the grounds keeper. Some time has passed and new hire Kate Mandell quits
her teaching job to become a private tutor to a wealthy young heiress’ Flora who
had witnessed her parent’s tragic death years prior. Before she arrives, Kate stops to say goodbye
to her mother who has been placed in a care facility, and appears to be
suffering from some form of mental deterioration, we learn her mother has a
passion to pastel drawings. Soon after her arrival to the estate Kate meets
Miles, Flora’s older brother who has unexpectedly returned from boarding
school. As the film progresses, Kate as trouble connecting with Miles and finds
the children becoming more distant as strange images begin to plague the
estate’s dark corridors and pools. 
The Turning was released in theaters at the beginning of
January 2020, with mainly under whelming reviews by critics and audiences, as
its conclusion was left very open ended. Directed by Floria Sigismondi who is known
for directing music performance videos, has directed a few episodic television shows
including The Handmaid’s Tale, American Gods, and an Episode of Marvel
Netflix’s Daredevil. The goal of the
ending was to leave the audiences to draw their own conclusion, if there were
spirits plaguing Kate and the Children, or was Kate losing her mind, as a predisposed
inheritance from her mother’s degenerating condition. The film also sets up an unreliable time
frame, on how much of what we are seeing is taking place or if any at all, as to show intent of reality is caving
inward.
The story has over a dozen film adaptations, Director Mike
Flanagan who completed the Haunting of Hill House Season on Netflix, is in the
process of a second season called The Haunting of Bly Manor, which has direct
connection to the Novella as being the backbone to the series. Films like ‘The Others’ and ‘In a DarkPlace’, as well as having the same title ‘The Turn of the Screw’ has been made
into a film and tele-film, All sharing a
similarity of atmosphere and connection of losing one’s mind or being haunted
by ghosts. This film is different from all pre-existing
creations as nothing is presented on screen to warrant its conclusion. The acting by all three
primary characters are stellar as they hold our attention, but half way
through the film you begin to feel that this film is not going anywhere in its
plot, once you discover and explore the environment, the film loses traction
and then the film really stops to a stand still and
leaves the rest to your own imagination.
David Cronenberg ‘s history of violence had an abrupt stop, but the film
was fully fleshed out for the audience
to be invested and make their own conclusion, The final moments of the Sopranos
, leaves the audience bewildered, but
dialogue given in the initial season of what is taking place fills in
the gap of the show’s finale, as the film comes full circle and the audience
can draw a definitive conclusion. The
Turning will be a bench mark, and a head scratcher, as solid acting, beautiful
composition in cinematography, but lacking a plausible direction of its deliberate ambiguity. There is nothing in three quarters of the movie to suggest the
sudden dramatic shift, unless the beverage Kate ingested altered her reality
the day her mother’s letter arrived.
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