11 December 2024
Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
111 min.
Directed by Bryan Forbes.
With Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough, Mark Eden, Nanette Newman, Judith Donner, Patrick Magee, Marie Burke, Hajni Biro.
Small-time psychic medium Myra Savage (Stanley in an Academy Award-nominated performance) conducts séances in her home, assisted by her unemployed husband Bill (Attenborough).

But it's not paying the bills. So Myra devises a plan to gain public recognition, and perhaps even worldwide success.

She convinces her weak-willed husband Bill to kidnap the young daughter (Donner) of a wealthy couple.

They'll keep the young girl hostage in their home, while Myra can demonstrate her incredible psychic gifts by 'revealing' the child's still alive, and assuring her safety to the police and her parents.

But problems arise. In addition to Bill's ineptitude and hesitation to complete the plan to full fruition, Myra's own mental stability begins to falter.

Will the couple kill to achieve their goals? Or will the police stop them in time?

A tense drama-thriller, enhanced by excellent performances, superb direction by Forbes and a lovely score composed by John Barry.

Stanley is simply astounding.

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