Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
During the Civil War, at a Southern girls’ boarding school, young women take in an injured enemy soldier. As they provide refuge and tend to his wounds, the house is taken over with sexual tension and dangerous rivalries, and taboos are broken in an unexpected turn of events.
Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled is visually ravishing — Bruno Delbonnel's soft, hazy, candlelit cinematography is genuinely exceptional, giving the film a dreamy, suffocating atmosphere. The acting is solid across the board with strong performances from Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning. However, as a remake of the 1971 Don Siegel film, its Novelty is limited — Coppola transposes a cooler, more restrained feminine gaze onto familiar material, which is a meaningful shift in perspective but not a wholly original conception. The plot is deliberately slow-burn and understated, which suits the mood but leaves some dramatic potential unrealized. The ending is serviceable and quietly effective but not particularly surprising or resonant for those familiar with the source material.