WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE Trailer Brings Shirley Jackson's Final Work to Life

If you need a measure of weirdness to brighten up your day, look no further than this trailer for We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Superbly faithful to Shirley Jackson’s singular vision, Stacie Passon’s adaptation is a must-see for fans of the novel and, more generally, for anyone who only knows Jackson as the author of The Haunting of Hill House.

No synopsis can really do it justice, but We Have Always Lived in the Castle tells the tragic and darkly comedic tale of Merricat (Taissa Farmiga) and Constance Blackwood (Alexandra Daddario), two strange sisters who lead secluded lives on the family estate they inherited after one of them poisoned their parents with arsenic. Living in their care is uncle Julian (Crispin Glover), a survivor of the poisoning, now obsessed with chronicling the events of one fateful evening. The sisters’ sheltered codependency is threatened when cousin Charles (Sebastian Stan) shows up at their doorstep to reacquaint himself with his brother’s children and with a keen interest in the family fortune.

The film, much like the book, is a simmering, offbeat meditation on the corrupting nature of toxic masculinity, the boon and bane of difference, alienation, (repressed) family trauma and psychosis, all wrapped up in a delicious mystery package that’s built to intrigue viewers who thrive on the peculiar. Anchored by pitch-perfect performances and possessing strong visual narration that provides attentive viewers with pieces of the psychological puzzle, Passon’s take on the material is a near flawless companion to Jackson’s best work.

Check out the trailer and let We Have Always Lived in the Castle invite you to the Blackwood manor.