Written and directed by Sergio G. Sanchez, Marrowbone marks Sanchez’s directorial debut. The Spanish director is known for his screenwriting talent in such movies as The Orphanage and The Impossible.
The story follows four siblings filled with secrets that entice and invites you to stay and live inside their world. The siblings cross the Atlantic, escaping from a mysterious trauma with a life of its own. They seek refuge in an old home after the death of their mother, only to discover that the house has another, more sinister inhabitant, and it turns into a haunting tale.
The siblings are full of life but also show apprehension. And all of it comes across with a unique romanticism and beautifully framed movie.
The older sibling, Jack, played by George MacKay, faces the responsibility of looking after his siblings. He struggles with the usual concerns of a boy his age—his love for Allie, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. The responsibility his mother has given him by asking him to keep the family together.
By contrast, Jane, the second sister, played by Mia Goth, symbolizes goodness in the mother’s absence. In the scenes, Jane compensates whenever there is a violent or hostile instinct. She fights for her brothers so that they can leave behind their painful past. Goth’s presence on film is quite overwhelming but compelling.
Billy, the third of the siblings, played by Charlie Heaton, is best known for the series Stranger Things. His performance is heartbreaking. Billy is perhaps the most troublesome. He represents courage, the bravery that Jack sometimes lacks. The fourth is Sam, played by Matthew Stagg, Sam’s the youngest, so everyone feels they have to overprotect him by hiding the most disgusting aspects that have led them to their present situation. He verbalizes everything he knows. His older siblings seem to believe he is more tender and naïve than he is. For them, his innocence is living proof that not everything is corrupted in the world. Allie is the only link they have with the outside world since she is not part of the family. She comes across as bright and cheerful and keeps the story moving forward.
The romance between Jack and Allie accurately sums up the quirkiness of the story. It’s teenage love shared by two young people who neither want nor have time to consider where it will lead.
Another character in the movie is the house where the siblings live. Its appearance of being semi-abandoned with an unkept yard marks the boundary between the home and the outer civilization—isolated with no signs of modern life. The siblings live in the world with their own rules, invisible to society that continues their concerns on the other side. However, I would call Marrowbone a horror movie. It is much more haunting than scary with the clever nuances Sanchez uses to engage the audience.
