In The Dark Half review

A kitchen-sink ghost story on a microbudget

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Made on a microbudget with support from South West Screen’s iFeatures scheme, ITDH is a striking debut from director Alastair Siddons.

The engagingly bolshy Jessica Barden ( Tamara Drewe ’s gobby teen) stars as Marie, who’s consumed with guilt when a boy she’s babysitting dies.

Part kitchen sink-er, part pseudo-ghost story, this has a firm grasp on the genres it casually straddles, with creepy sound design fostering a dreamy, portentous mood.

Despite slack pacing, the final twist is so good comparisons with The Sixth Sense aren’t out of the question.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.