With its genially old fashioned ideologies and almost – not quite – Ghibli like aesthetic and score, Princess Emmy is never less than charming, never more than fine. The film comes from the producers of Maya the Bee, is sweet on the eye and sticks around only so long as it’s welcome – a breezy seventy odd minutes. Whilst it is aimed squarely at that bygone image of the little girl who dreams of ponies and princesses, there’s enough backbone here to maintain a notional sense for moral modernity.
Adrian Noble has more Olivier award nominations to his name than there are scenes in his new film – Mrs Lowry & Son – set outside the former character’s bedroom. To wit, Noble is best known as being among the RSC’s longest-serving executives and for producing acclaimed hits right from The Winter’s Tale to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He is, in other words, a master of stagecraft.
So, one wonders, why did he not insist on taking Martin Hesford’s inherently theatrical script in that direction?
Milking the It and Stranger Things market mercilessly, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a surprisingly successful young adult fright fest. Based on the 1981 anthology book of the same name by Alvin Schwart, and directed by André Øvredal, the film makes good on the promise of its title with impressive visuals and remarkable restraint. On one level, the film struggles to overcome its predictably episodic narrative. On another, Øvredal succeeds in weaving through higher notions and smarter themes. Fundamentally, likeable leads allow for a predominance of humanity.
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