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Thank goodness for our #bookstagram community because they did us a SOLID by letting us know that Crooked House was available on iTunes and Amazon in the US ahead of the theatrical release later this year! Since Crooked House was a favorite read for both of us during our #yearofagatha, we both bought the film right away. We've organized our thoughts and feelings below:
*BE ADVISED: many spoilers to follow! You are legit not allowed to read this post unless you've read the book or seen the film!*
THINGS WE LIKED:
Audrey: Guys. This movie. Was. So. GOOD.
Emily: GUYS IT WAS SO GOOD. So good that we and many of our fellow fanatics have tentatively evaluated it as possibly the best Agatha film adaptation...ever. With ZERO offence meant to the iconic David Suchet. From the minute the movie started, I was basically cackling into my magic mirror about how much perfection it was, from the absolutely perfect house (how did they find that place??) for the crooked house, the ideal level of creepiness from Josephine, the costumes, the perfectness of Max Irons as Charles, and the completely pitch perfect level of noir-ish tension throughout. Christina Hendrix's Marilyn Monroe impression as Brenda was legit, and Gillian Anderson totally nailed the drama queen that is Magda. Likely the best of all, though, was Glenn Close being an absolute total smokeshow and completely killing it (pun intended?) as Aunt Edith, the English country lady with an edge. The costuming and sets were all gorgeous, and I really liked the way the adaptation blended the noir-ish detective storyline in with the classic mystery. The family dinner scene was so on point in conveying how toxic this group is together I basically had my hands in the air. Honestly the FEEL of it was just so right, to me, this is up there with Endless Night in terms of the darker plotlines and adaptations, but this one is even more perfect (I KNOW - Audrey is shocked to hear it too).
Audrey: One of the things I loved the most about this movie was the attention to making the family dysfunction seem so real. Throughout the Crooked House book, Sofia is trying to describe to Charles how her family is just not normal. The performances from the actors (along with a truly stellar screenplay #thankyouJulianFellowes) captured this sentiment COMPLETELY and truly made me believe that a twelve-year-old killer could be among this group of people. And don't even get me started about the production design in this film - I was literally gasping with delight as Charles entered each new room in the mansion. I die for that beautiful conservatory space where Roger and Clemency lived (#HEARTEYES).
THINGS WE DID NOT LIKE:
Emily: Damn, Audrey, can you think of anything? I guess one thing that I felt could have been handled a bit better was the very abrupt ending to the film. In the book, there's a bit more of a sum-up, where people are like "yeah...Josephine was sort of terrifying in retrospect..." It was genuinely stunning to see the demise of Edith and Josephine on the screen (perhaps one reason this adaptation is only just now happening), and I guess they wanted to leave you with that impact, but it might have been nice to wrap it up a little more.
Audrey: I was also not really fond of the abrupt ending. Like Emily said, the book ties everything up quite nicely as Sofia and Charles's father (VERY MUCH ALIVE) both admit they had wondered if Josephine could be the killer. Another point I was just a bit confused about was leaving Charles's father out of the film, when he is kind of a central character in the book. I will say they handled the change fairly well in that it didn't seem jarring, however, I did miss the rapport between those two as they attempted to solve the case together in the book.
Overall, we give this film all the stars out of stars and hope that each of you have the chance to see it ASAP! Please comment below and let us know what you thought!
-A. & E.
Oh my gosh it was so good!! I agree, the cast and the house were incredible!
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