FilmSnobReviews

Title: Down a Dark Hall
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Rodrigo Cortes
Starring: AnnaSophia Robb, Uma Thurman, Isabelle Fuhrman
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins

What It Is: Kit (Robb) is a problematic young lady. When her parents realize that their last shot at helping their daughter is at a very strict boarding school they enroll here in it. This school is run by Madame Duret (Thurman), a strict disciplinarian. There’s something strange about this school, and it isn’t that the class size is only 5. It also isn’t that the Head Mistresses son is the music teacher. No, something much more sinister is afoot.

What We Think: More than anything I think that this whole affair is a giant waste of time. From a story perspective, this thing is a cluttered stinking mess. Robb does her best with this but she doesn’t have quite enough talent to rise above the script. It isn’t that she’s not talented but you’d have needed an upper echelon talent to get above this. Regardless, this is not a good film and one that should be avoided if at all possible. Problematic at it’s best and trash and it’s simple worst. Everyone involved deserves better than this.

Our Grade: D, Yeah don’t bother with this unless you’re a fan of the source material. Even then though it very much isn’t worth it. Whatever Robb, Thurman, Fuhrman and the like do next it has to be better than this. Obviously, I’m not going to recommend this to anyone. The only thing keeping this from utter failure is the performance by AnnaSophia Robb. As I mentioned though it isn’t good enough to save the film she does her best. Instead perhaps stick to better project from the talented cast. Something like The Way Way Back, 1 Night, or The Kill Bill Series.