Tag: Elizabeth Olsen

“It’s always the ones in the corner you have too worry about”

This film version of Thérèse Raquin was originally entitled Thérèse Raquin as it is based on Neal Bell’s stage adaptation but between presumed focus groups and a less than stellar premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, it was renamed Thérèse and in advance of its muted recent wider release, it changed again to In Secret. It is hard to see the logic of divorcing the title entirely from any connection with Zola as the generic replacement is hardly a big pull but who knows how the minds of Hollywood executives work.

As it is, I don’t think it would have made too much difference to the success of the film, as stellar performance from Jessica Lange aside, it is a fairly hokey take on the story which somewhat misses the mark. A young Thérèse gets a potted backstory as she’s left in the care of her aunt (Lange) by kindly parents and quickly morphs into a gamine Elizabeth Olsen who must play nursemaid and companion, and eventually wife, to her sickly cousin Camille (a brilliantly washed out Tom Felton).

Continue reading “Film Review: In Secret (or Thérèse) (or Thérèse Raquin)”