From Time to Time | |
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Directed by | Julian Fellowes |
Written by |
Lucy M. Boston Julian Fellowes |
Starring |
Maggie Smith Timothy Spall Carice van Houten Alex Etel Eliza Bennett Hugh Bonneville Kwayedza Kureya |
Distributed by | Ealing Studios |
Release date
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Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
From Time to Time is a 2009 British fantasy drama film directed by Julian Fellowes and starring Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, Carice van Houten, Alex Etel, Eliza Bennett, Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh, Dominic West, Hugh Bonneville, Kwayedza Kureya, and Pauline Collins. It was adapted from Lucy M. Boston's children's novel The Chimneys of Green Knowe (1958). The film was shot in Athelhampton Hall, Dorset.
This British ghostly haunting story spanning two worlds, two centuries apart, is set in 1944, near the end of World War II. Tolly, 13, arrives at his grandmother's country house, Green Knowe, after his father is reported missing in action. His grandmother (Maggie Smith) is faced with selling Green Knowe for financial reasons. Tolly soon discovers he can magically travel in time mysteriously between the present and the 19th century in the old manor house, and he begins an adventure that unlocks family secrets laid buried for generations. Exciting events include a terrible fire, a tale of stolen jewels, and threats of a press gang.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 43% fresh rating based on reviews from seven critics and a rating average of 5.9 out of 10. Tom Huddleston of Time Out described the film as "an emotionally wise but logically skewed children’s tale", the logical inconsistencies of which "largely restricts the film’s appeal to bookish pre-teens". Henry Fitzherbert of the Daily Express praised the actors' performances, particularly Smith's, and noted that it "casts a magical spell by the touching conclusion".