The Turning Review: 3 Ups & 5 Downs

4. Mackenzie Davis And Finn Wolfhard

The Turning
Universal Pictures

Overall, the acting performances in The Turning are lacking. The two actors that give the most disappointing performances are the two that, given their previous work, you would expect to carry the film: Mackenzie Davis and Finn Wolfhard. The latter, in particular, is an immensely talented actor - I suppose it is difficult to be passionate about a script as terrible as this, and it certainly shows in his bland and unconvincing delivery.

It's impossible not to compare Wolfhard to the incredible Martin Stephens, who played Miles in The Innocents (1961). Stephens is completely believable as a young boy corrupted by the spirit of the scheming and abusive Quint, but Wolfhard makes no impact whatsoever. Instead, his performance feels more like he's auditioning for We Need to Talk About Kevin. Perhaps with better material to work with, he might have proven to be a stroke of genius casting.

Davis bring nothing worthwhile to the table, and can't even begin to complete with the brilliance of Deborah Kerr. There are odd scenes in which her reactions make you wonder: "Really? That was the best take?" You would surely assume that Kate seeing a strange woman's spectral visage staring back at her in a a window might warrant a slightly bigger response than 'mildly startled'. No? Just me, then.

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Olivia Bradbury hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.