The Turning

Unfortunately, a bevy of offscreen characters that only serve to complicate an already meandering plot and a sorely muddled ending rob it of its full potential.

"The Turning" announces Sigismondi as a bold and adept genre filmmaker, with an eye for detail and impeccable casting choices.

The Turning doesn't make you feel like you've watched a failed adaptation of a horror-lit landmark. It just leaves you feeling totally screwed.

It proves harder still to discern the message in that abrupt ending. Yes, it's commendable to find new ways to tell a classic tale. It's just that this tale has been told better, and more clearly, many times before.

The Turning suggests the devastation that can linger as a result of childhood trauma, and its players seem game to go deeper, but ultimately the film only scratches the surface of this thorny subject.

Only The Florida Project's Brooklynn Prince makes it out of the proceedings unscathed. She brings a playful naturalism to the dark imp Flora. If she keeps it up, she's this generation's Margaret O'Brien.

When a story ends the way this one does, you wonder why you spent the money and time on having someone tell it to you.

The vast majority of the cast in The Turning is white.

An absolutely abhorrent ghost story...

'Turning' is incomprehensible spin on 'Turn of the Screw.'