Although this film has many merits on its own standing, when compared to Don Siegel's 1971 release, this production lacks the guts that the original had. The Eastwood version portrayed the manipulation by McB as a deep, tricky web. Whereas this film struggled to show his true intentions. The film itself, when not compared, definitely stands on its own two legs. The reduced aspect ratio along with the production design and costume makes the civil war era come to life. The acting is as good as it gets. However, it is what is SHOWN in the film that is its downfall. The original had hypnotic and artistic moments bookending the film. It had a gut-wrenching amputation scene that this version skips over entirely. The sexual manipulation between the three main female leads by Colin Farrell's character is not as evenly spread as the original making the ending less entirely less dramatic. They have extracted much of the complexity of all the characters, such as Nicole Kidman's character's previous relationship is gone completely. As another review read, this film is not a horror and I feel as though Sofia Coppola would have done better if she had stuck closer to that line.

'The Beguiled (2017)' is a thriller which isn't actually all that thrilling. This remake of the Eastwood/ Siegel classic removes much of the gritty edge and tension while retaining the same basic story and structure, a move which ends up neutering the narrative a significant amount and actually makes the entire affair seem rather pointless, to an extent. That's not to say it's terrible or even bad, in fact it passes the time and is both directed and acted with a subtle yet significant passion mixed with a steady professionalism. It's never dull but it's also never exciting, either. The events are depicted in a calculated manner and the piece is devoid of almost any emotion. The ending also frustratingly lacks any real resolution, other than the obvious way it brings the plot to a close. 6/10

War-torn Virginia, 1864. A wounded Union soldier is found by a local girl and finds shelter at a girls' school. Their intention is to nurse him back to health and then send him on his way but over time the relationship becomes more complicated.Directed by Sofia Coppola, not bad, but not that good either. The original movie, released in 1971, was directed by Don Siegel and starred Clint Eastwood as the Union solider. While not brilliant, it was reasonably engaging and had a clever, powerful twist at the end.This, the 2017 version, is not overly engaging, feeling quite dry, a purely linear telling of events. The plot isn't exactly the same as the 1971 movie, effectively adding another act beyond the conclusion of Sigel's movie. The added-on portion is fairly interesting, but the conclusion doesn't pack the same punch that Siegel's movie did.

Great storyline and sublime acting but horribly irritating light.!!