Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Arifa Akbar

The Turn of the Screw review – Henry James’s classic ghost story with added jump scares

The Governess, with bruised face and frightened expression, looks up in a dimly lit room
Startling moments … Amy Tara in Turn of the Screw. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian

Here is Henry James’s canonical ghost story with modern-day jump scares. And, more audaciously, a new framing device by writer-adapter, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, which explains itself in a final, added, twist.

The jump scares do their work, Hattie North’s jagged sound design enacting its shocks, and the production is slick and stylised – but not all the elements pay off.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.