the latest adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's gothic 1938 novel, is a dreamy homage to old-school Hollywood as well as a haunting, female-driven psychological thriller with deep mystery and satisfying twists
in director Ben Wheatley's lush, ponderous update... the screenplay, often reads like melodrama xeroxed and once removed -- its characters less living humans than archetypes to be sexed up, simplified, and sent off to their inevitable fates
an overdressed and underpowered romantic thriller; Ben Wheatley’s take on the Daphne du Maurier story has moments of spectacle and disquiet but hunky Armie Hammer is miscast as the troubled widower
although there are flashes of ingenuity, the period melodrama doesn't really feel like Ben Wheatley's wheelhouse and he seems hemmed in by the need to produce something faithful and commercially viable; the result is more watchable than wonderful