haunting of hill house Archives

bly manor

based on the Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The Review

This is not a book review. This is a review of the TV adaptation of Henry James’s book, the Turn of the Screw. If you’re looking for the book review, please follow the link at the end of this post. This review will follow a different structure than the book reviews. Similar to the graphic novel adaptations, this review will discuss the portrayal of the characters and scenery, the faithfulness to the original work, and the quality of the film in general.

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK, THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Portrayal:

Generally, the portrayal of characters in this adaptation is spot on. Obviously, seeing as this is a nine-episode-long series based on a book that was less than 100 pages, they took a little liberty. But I think they made the right choices here. In almost every case that is. Just like I saw in the book, the relationships between females characters in the show are so strong and important to this story.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t really a huge fan of Victoria Pedretti in this show. I loved her in the Haunting of Hill House, but I found some of her mannerisms to be a little off-putting here. Her acting is pretty perfect for the role she plays though. She obviously has a lot of issues in her past from the very beginning and addressing those problems was on oof the best underlining bits of the show. Mrs. Grose was absolutely amazing in this. Her role is much more important in the adaptation and I just love the diversity they wound in here.

dani

Another adjustment they made for the adaptation was to the previous governess and Peter Quint. In the book, these characters are 100% portrayed as bad guys. They were the ghosts and they were there to be feared. In this adaptation, they’re fleshed out with backgrounds and stories of their own. I love that Miss Jessel is a career-driven woman trying to better herself. Peter Quint (although a lot of his actions contradict themselves I think) feels like he’s stuck in life because of where he was born. This really makes you invest and hang on to the characters.

Faithfulness:

I think it’s important to note here that this adaptation and book are telling very different stories. There is so much more information in this show and the inclusion of these details really changes the plot and feel. Where the Turn of the Screw thrives on vagueness, the Haunting of Bly Manor uses explanations and backgrounds to really delve into this idea and dig out what made readers uncomfortable in the original.

I think the biggest adjustment for me was how romanticized everyone was in this adaptation. I don’t think that necessarily made the adaptation bad, but there were really no villains. Peter Quint and Miss Jessel were evil and tainted in the original book, but here we’re seeing them as people who are relatable and flawed. Again, I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, but it was a little jarring to see the change after having read the book.

Quality:

Overall, the quality of this show is phenomenal. The acting is excellent. The scenery and sets are beautiful. The lighting, music, camera usage are all perfectly moody. There are a few discrepancies that don’t fit or sit well with me, but that’s bound to happen when expanding an adaptation to this extent.

I wanted to address the LGBTQ+ inclusion down here in this section. All the relationships felt really natural. I feel like a lot of lesbian relationships are forced in other types of media, but this show didn’t do that. It also really served to bring the show to a great conclusion that was very different from the book. For me, it was a really good addition to the story in general and I love that they added this.

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