Crooked House
Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner
- mystery
- crime
- thriller
The story
A private investigator helps a former flame solve the murder of her wealthy grandfather, who lived in a sprawling estate surrounded by his idiosyncratic family.
What it’s like
Cold, muted daylight through tall sash windows and dim, wood-panelled interiors lit by lamps, with a restrained palette of greys, bottle greens and tobacco browns that keeps the country-house setting feeling faintly airless. The camera favours measured, mostly static framing and slow pans across rooms full of watchful faces, and the score leans on strings and low tension rather than jump-scare stings. The tone is a chilly, genteel unease: a whodunit that moves at a brisk, steady clip through interviews, kitchens, and garden walks, with an undercurrent of family resentment that turns callous and, at points, genuinely horrifying. Violence is sudden and brief rather than graphic, with some blood and a disturbing death handled without gore; there is no sexual content and the peril is mostly suspense. It suits a rainy weekend afternoon or a late evening when you want a clever puzzle with an upper-class chill. It is for viewers who enjoy Agatha Christie-style mysteries, unreliable family dynamics, and a cast that plays barbed politeness well.
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