Our latest Sweater Weather movie this month was The Banishing, starring Jessica Brown-Findlay from Downtown Abbey. I found this movie on a list of British spooky movies for fall and thought we would try it since I do like a haunted house movie.

This movie was…weird? I didn’t dislike it although it felt like it needed more something. More dread, or more information, or more just something. It is based on the real life allegedly most haunted location in England, the Borley Rectory. And much like the real manor, the hauntings intensify when the vicar Linus and his wife Marianne move in, with Marianne’s daughter Addie. This parallels the history of Borley Rectory, when the Rev. Lionel and his wife Marianne move in, and claim that the place is haunted.

This movie had a lot going for it. It had a spectacular setting, Jessica Brown-Findlay, and a well-known haunted legend and location. It also threw a bunch of other things in the mix, which I think muddled the scary vibes too much. Lots of secrets, scary dolls, Nazis, the hint of a “past” for Marianne, making Marianne’s husband sort of weird and bland at the same time, and a psychic. The psychic, Harry Ellis, was also I believe based on the real life paranormal investigator of Borely Rectory, Harry Reed. There was a lot and it never came together in a good way.

Jessica Brown-Findlay was the best part of this movie. I don’t think she had a lot to work with but I think she gave it her all. Plus, her outfits in this movie were fantastic. I felt like she was believable as a woman at odds with her husband but attempting to be a good wife, and as a woman with a complicated history even though I never really understood the whole story of it.

This story felt more like it was focused on the personal issues that were haunting the characters themselves, as they all carried their own secrets and baggage which was fine, but I didn’t feel like either the haunting of the characters or the haunting of the house were explored enough for the audience. Or maybe just me.

Whatever you are watching this fall, drop your link here and let’s share our sweater weather cinema experiences! The movies I still am hoping to watch this fall are Clue, Sleepy Hollow, and Wicker Man (the OG).