Film Review: My Cousin Rachel could have been more suspenseful

My Cousin Rachel is gripping drama, to be sure. Does it stay with you? I am not certain. My knowledge of the story was restricted to what Wikipedia had to offer, which, of course, is little but the bare skeleton to go by. But optimism was high about the promise of a dark tale, given my experience with Rebecca, also by Daphne du Maurier, which is a story that occasionally haunts me to date.

And to that extent, My Cousin Rachel, was a deep disappointment. For what could have been a layered drama full of hints and unresolved moments, the film is a little too much of a straight arrow. The story really starts with a letter received by a young man, Ashley, from his elder cousin Ambrose, who brought him up after he lost his parents early in life. Ambrose, who had been unwell, went from Cornwall (England) to Florence (Italy) to get better. There he meets their cousin Rachel, a widow, who he marries. But soon his letters become fearful of Rachel’s role in his life, and he eventually asks Ashley to come to Florence. On reaching there, Ashley discovers that Ambrose has already died, and grief stricken, he swears to get his revenge on Rachel, who he believes is responsible for his beloved cousin’s death.

Rachel turns up soon enough at his place, and no sooner has he met her that Ashley is drawn in by her relaxed, affectionate personality, which wins over everyone around her as well. Soon all thoughts of revenge are all but forgotten and as their relationship grows thicker, Ashley transfers the property to Rachel, in a grand show of love to her. But she turns him down, and he keeps discovering more letters from his dead cousin that accuse Rachel.

The question ultimately is: Is she really a devil hiding behind an angel? Or is she truly innocent, having been implicated by an ill man’s paranoia? I am guessing the film was supposed to leave the viewer, as much as Ashley himself, with these haunting questions. Except, that it doesn’t.

The manner of the film is such, that you don’t really feel that Rachel is indeed a scheming killer, but that Ashley is driven to the brink as much by his own passions for her as his grief at losing his only real family. Not much psychological drama there, then. Pity, that, given how well the actors play their parts, how fitting the locales are and how engrossing the tale had potential to be.

Fem Review: Whether real or imaginary, this is one story that fully explores the potential of the female psyche, from a point of realism, and not cardboard stereotypes. Nice.

P.S. Chris Isaak’s 1990 song ‘Wicked Game’ has been redone as a trailer song for My Cousin Rachel, its quite the cover.