Meine Cousine Rachel (2017)

Meine Cousine Rachel: Directed by Roger Michell. With Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, Holliday Grainger, Iain Glen. A young Englishman plots revenge against his late cousin’s mysterious, beautiful wife, believing her responsible for his death. But his feelings become complicated as he finds himself falling under the beguiling spell of her charms.

“I admire Daphne du Maurieru0026#39;s u0026#39;Rebeccau0026#39; and Hitchcocku0026#39;s film, as well as her short stories; also, I love Roger Michellu0026#39;s u0026#39;Notting Hillu0026#39;. So I really wanted to enjoy this film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt has its strong points: itu0026#39;s a pervasive mystery combined with a complicated love story, itu0026#39;s beautifully shot in a period setting and the action in a sense turns full circle quite satisfyingly. The acting by Rachel Weisz as Rachel and Sam Claflin as Philip is generally quite engaging, too. There are even a couple of jokes: Rachel makes one about a smoking room for women and, when called a u0026#39;stickleru0026#39; by Philip, his lawyer Mr Crouch (Simon Russell Beale) retorts that he will u0026#39;stickleu0026#39;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUnfortunately the filmu0026#39;s pace was too slow for me. It held my attention, paradoxically, because I was waiting for a decisive moment. There are numerous pregnant pauses in the dialogue but I would say thereu0026#39;s very little emotional intensity or mounting suspense.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOf course I wasnu0026#39;t expecting an action movie (not a favourite genre of mine), but I believe the film could have done du Maurier more justice. It might have been more interesting if one character had been developed: Rachelu0026#39;s friend Rainaldi (Pierfrancesco Favino). He is enigmatic and she hints at his sexuality, but that is all. I still want to read the novel.”