Staring Tom Hiddleston (Thomas Sharpe), Mia Wasikowska (Edith), Jessica Chastain (Lucille Sharpe), and Charlie Hunnam (Dr. Alan), this film tells a story that is brilliantly directed by Guillermo del Toro. It’s also perfect for the week of Valentine’s Day because of its twisted love story that lies at the center of the plot.
Crimson Peak (2015) has been on my radar since I watched clips of a few scenes during my phase of being mesmerized by Tom Hiddleston. I think it was around the time I was taking a Shakespeare class in college. I watched one of his performances and that led me to diving deeper into his acting history. That deep dive led me to watching some interesting clips of this film. It seemed weird to me so I did not decide to watch it then. But I was feeling adventurous this week and decided it was time to sit down and watch this film.
Crimson Peak is a horror and historical piece. The clothing and sets are incredible and help tell the story in itself. This dramatic, horrific mystery is captivating and pulls you in with the characters right away. The ghosts are some of the scariest I have seen, the death scenes are bloody, and the characters’ relationships with one another evolve and become more apparent as the audience is let in closer to the depths of their hearts.
Jessica Chastain (Lucille) does a great job at stealing every scene. She tells the complex past of her character with the emotion in her eyes and her careful body movements. Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska are no different. The casting is impeccable and this film would certainly not be the same with different actors that did not have the ability to encapsulate del Toro’s script.
Overall, I did not expect to like this film enough to watch it for entirety because after all, it is two hours long. Because of the abundance of films available to watch online, I have become more specific with the ones I choose to watch. I have been getting in the habit of putting on films, getting disappointed, and turning them for something else. I usually give a movie fifteen minutes, or thirty if I am feeling patient, before I decide that it is not something I want to dedicate my time to. But with Crimson Peak, I was hooked all the way through. From the beginning scene to the very end. I even wanted it to continue on longer than it did, but I have to admit that the ending was the perfect seal to end the story.
7.5/10
*Disclaimer: Making a movie is hard. Sometimes you have an idea and it is not interpreted how you intended it to be. All directors, producers, writers, and everyone on set should be proud at what they created and I do not want to diminish that. I just want to share my opinions so we can learn from movies and see what works and what didn’t.
Aloha Arianna 