My Cousin Rachel Review – Spoiler Free
My Cousin Rachel is a film which comes directed by Roger Michell who some may know as the director of Notting Hill (1999). My Cousin Rachel stars Sam Claflin, Rachel Weisz, Iain Glen and Holliday Grainger. The film is based on novel written by Daphne Du Maurier which is also called My Cousin Rachel, the book was released in 1951.
Going into this film I wasn’t really familiar with the book or the story behind what this was based on, but was intrigued by the trailer. This to me this seemed like possibly a love story type of film with a bunch of manipulative characters, especially Rachel (Rachel Weisz), which seemed interesting. You do get that when watching this movie, Rachel is very manipulative and quickly seduces her cousin Phillip (Sam Claflin) who over time becomes infatuated with Rachel, completely forgetting his current love interest Louise (Holliday Grainger) in the process of it all.
I consider the story of the film an interesting one and I’m sure there’s a lot in there for people who read the book or even those who just watched this film to talk about once they’re done with it all. For example, really what was Rachel doing the whole time and was she was just doing it for Phillip’s money or what? There’s a lot of interesting themes to discuss to do with the story in this film. But I found myself not entirely buying the whole relationship between the actors. While the director is going for a film here that leaves some tense emotional impact, for some reason the way everything was set up, I never truly became fully immersed with it all. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but I just didn’t feel much tension or drama for the big moments. It just doesn’t make a big impact.
The actors are all okay, but I didn’t see much between Sam Claflin and Rachel Weisz with their roles, I don’t think the chemistry was that great between the two. I did really enjoy watching Holliday Grainger in the film, although her role was small, I felt they could have done much more with this actress who is actually a great one that always makes a strong impact. Iain Glen also appeared in the film and was just as much as a joy as he was in his many appearances in Game Of Thrones.
I did enjoy the sets and the costumes, they were all nicely done and what I have come to expect from a film set in this period. On IMDB’s trivia page it says this was filmed in Italy, if so, the locations are well chosen. There’s some nice things to look at. However, even with all of this, I think general viewers won’t mind watching this one at home on Netflix instead of at the cinema. The movie is alright, but there’s little benefit gained from seeing it on the big screen and for all that extra money.
Overall this is an interesting film about a very manipulative woman named Rachel who happens to seduce her cousin Phillip. While there are some really intense dramatic scenes, I did not feel as much impact for the tense moments as I would have liked. It’s not bad in any way at all, but it’s not the most entertaining either, it’s in the middle. I thought Holiday Grainger was a great actress in the film, but could have been used so much more. My Cousin Rachel is an interesting drama with some good topics to chat about with friends who enjoy these types of subjects.
