Rachel Weisz stars in Roger Michell’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel. But what have critics been saying about the film adaptation?
The Guardian: **** “Weisz is a great villainess, a character who uses the promise of sex and the actual activity of sex for her own ends and yet keeps alive the possibility that she isn’t what we suspect.”
Empire: *** “It is almost entirely thanks to Weisz, deftly mercurial, that any suspense is maintained.”
The Independent: *** “This is an enjoyable film but a deeply contrived one which only works plot-wise because of Philip’s Titanic-like insistence in heading straight for the iceberg.”
RogerEbert.com: * “One of the problems with this “My Cousin Rachel” is that it’s hard to come up with any issue or reason relative to its creation, I’m afraid.”
Vulture.com: “My Cousin Rachel is a fascinating hybrid. It uses clunky devices out of a 19th-century melodrama, but its subject is modern: mistakes of perception and of metaphor. It’s about the myopia of the male gaze.”
The Sun: *** “A good, immersive watch with a top-notch cast.”
Evening Standard: *** “Though My Cousin Rachel has thrilling moments, every time Weisz is off-screen the plot contrivances grate. As for the denouement (which concentrates on Claflin and another actress) it’s a passion-killer.”
The Times: *** “My Cousin Rachel is a polished period piece, if lacking du Maurier’s moodiness.”
The Scotsman: **** “a tasteful yet quietly sinister adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s gothic period novel.”
The FT: ** “The actors try their best. It’s the script and plot that let everything, and finally everyone, down.”
The London Economic: “My Cousin Rachel may not be the most nuanced or sedate adaptations ever made, but its atmospheric beauty, and at times laugh-out-loud melodramatic air is sure to have something for everyone.”
Rolling Stone: *** “Michell keeps the soirees and suspicions moving in a swoony swirl.”
The Hollywood Reporter: “My Cousin Rachel is a beautifully tangled web of good and evil, innocence and experience.”
My Cousin Rachel is in cinemas now.