The Beguiled

The year is 1864 and the American Civil War rages in the state of Virginia. While out in the woods surrounding her boarding school, a girl named Amy discovers an injured Union soldier named John McBurney (Farrell) who is on the brink of death. Headmistress Martha Farnsworth (Kidman) agrees to take him into the school and nurse him back to health, after which they will turn him over to the soldiers. The young women of the household, including a teacher named Edwina (Dunst) and one of the eldest of the five students there, Alicia (Fanning), become increasingly infatuated with John.

The Beguiled is, it has to be said first and foremost, a thing of beauty to behold. Its production design and cinematography are simply stunning, with cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd (an Oscar nominee for his work on The Grandmaster in 2014) giving us ample time to take in the sights and observe the film’s characters as they move between the wild environs of the outside and the seemingly civilised school interior.

Director-screenwriter Sofia Coppola has generally found favour among critics, though she isn't a guaranteed box office hit-maker (then again, a lot of directors have sold their souls for the sake of BO receipts *cough*Michael Bay*cough*). With past credits including the likes of The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette and, more randomly, The Bling Ring and A Very Murray Christmas, a strength she has always demonstrated is her talent with actors, and such is undeniably the case with The Beguiled.

The movie is superbly acted by its ensemble cast, which includes Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst (a regular Coppola collaborator) and Elle Fanning. Newcomer Oona Laurence (who some audiences may recognise as having originated the role of Matilda for the musical of the same name on Broadway) is fantastic but the standouts are the more experienced cast members. Farrell has been going from strength to strength in recent years and here he returns to his roots as the charming, witty, enigmatic Irish rogue effortlessly, placed opposite Kidman’s fierce, feminine leader and Dunst’s shy but lovely Martha. Kidman and Farrell in particular play well against each other, which makes upcoming Cannes darling The Killing of a Sacred Deer (a Greek-Irish co-production starring the actors as husband and wife) all the more intriguing.

It is worth noting that, if it can be avoided at all, do not watch the trailer for The Beguiled. It gives away a great deal of the storyline, and as it is, the film only clocks in at 97 minutes (though it somehow feels longer, perhaps as a result of the contemplative choreographic style). A great deal of the film relies on atmosphere and suspense, a substantial amount of which is lost when you know what’s coming.