The Turn of the Screw (2009 film)

The Turn of the Screw
UK release DVD cover
Directed by	Tim Fywell
Produced by	Colin Wratten
Screenplay by	Sandy Welch
Based on	The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Production company	BBC
Distributed by	Acorn Media UK
Release date	30 December 2009
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

External video

Turn of the Screw trailer The television trailer shown on the BBC for Turn of the Screw (hosted on YouTube)

"Blindfold Game" Flora shows Ann her room shortly after the latter's arrival at Bly, but insists that she wear a blindfold. While unable to see, Ann hears voices in the room.

"Ann's Discovery" As Miles looks over the grounds, Ann finds the grave of Emily Jessel in the yard of Bly's church. Ann then mistakes Mrs Sarah Grose, also present in the graveyard, for a ghost.

The Turn of the Screw (also known as Ghost Story: The Turn of the Screw) is a British television film based on Henry James's 1898 ghost story of the same name. Commissioned and produced by the BBC, it was first broadcast on 30 December 2009, on BBC One. The novella was adapted for the screen by Sandy Welch, and the film was directed by Tim Fywell. Although generally true to the tone and story of James's work, the film is set in the 1920s—in contrast to the original 1840s setting—and accentuates sexual elements that some theorists have identified in the novella. The film's story is told in flashbacks during consultations between the institutionalised Ann (Michelle Dockery) and Dr Fisher (Dan Stevens). Ann tells how she was hired by an aristocrat (Mark Umbers) to care for the orphans Miles (Josef Lindsay) and Flora (Eva Sayer). She is met at the children's home, Bly, by Mrs Grose (Sue Johnston), the housekeeper. Ann soon begins to see unknown figures around the manor, and seeks an explanation.

Critics were divided in their reviews of The Turn of the Screw. The acting and tone of the production were generally praised, but the plot's divergences from the original story were less well received. A particular disagreement concerned the film's horrific elements; some critics considered it to be genuinely scary, while others suggested that the horror was not fully effective. The original story has been much analysed owing to its ambiguity, and critics disagreed about the extent to which the film succeeded in portraying this trait. Academic analyses found the film considerably less ambiguous than the novella. The Turn of the Screw was released on DVD on 1 March 2010 in the UK and on 28 April 2015 in North America.

The BBC had previously adapted several horror stories as Christmas films, with their series A Ghost Story for Christmas including adaptations of the M. R. James stories "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" (filmed as The Stalls of Barchester), "A Warning to the Curious", "Lost Hearts", "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" and "The Ash Tree". The Turn of the Screw fits into this "mini-genre" of the Christmas horror film. The BBC executive and drama commissioner Ben Stephenson, discussing The Turn of the Screw, said that "Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a ghost story for the adults to watch in front of the fire when the children are in bed, and they don't get more chilling than this bold reimagining of the classic Henry James tale." The film was commissioned by Stephenson and Jay Hunt, then controller of BBC One. It was directed by Tim Fywell, and produced by Colin Wratten; the executive producer was Jessica Pope.