My Cousin Rachel

A beautiful mysterious cousin is suspected of murdering an Englishman’s guardian. His plotting revenge is somewhat stymied when he unwittingly falls in love with her.
Love, mystery, murder and revenge are powerful motivators and provide the central theme in this period drama based on Daphne du Maurier’s novel.
Rachel Weisz’s casting for Rachel is not surprising considering demand for complex character portrayal.
Rachel keeps us guessing as to her true nature: her black Italian mourning attire, her ambiguous expressions – is she sad or just irreverent? Is it her cultural etiquette?
Roger Michell directs a film that looks beautiful and thankfully avoids the sterile appearance of so many of similar genre. You are thrust back in time and it feels believable with authentic settings merging with the personal interplay.
Who is Rachel? Are we all too quick to judge? Her Beguiling spell is cast on the young Englishman played by Sam Claflin and as we witness his firm resolve dissolve into passion for his cousin we realise that perhaps the human condition is more layered then we imagine.