The Little Stranger
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THE LITTLE STRANGER Pathe, Film4 and Ingenious Media present in association with the Irish Film Board (Bord Scannán na hÉireann) and with the participation of Canal + and Cine + a Potboiler Production in association with Element Pictures THE LITTLE STRANGER DIRECTED BY Lenny Abrahamson STARRING Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Will Poulter, Liv Hill and Charlotte Rampling PRODUCED BY Gail Egan, Andrea Calderwood, Ed Guiney EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY Cameron McCracken, Daniel Battsek, Andrew Lowe, Celine Haddad, Tim O’Shea SCREENPLAY BY Lucinda Coxon BASED ON THE NOVEL BY Sarah Waters DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Ole Bratt Birkeland EDITOR Nathan Nugent COMPOSER Stephen Rennicks PRODUCTION DESIGNER Simon Elliott COSTUME DESIGNER Steven Noble CASTING DIRECTOR Nina Gold HAIR & MAKE UP DESIGNER Sian Grigg THE LITTLE STRANGER SHORT SYNPOSIS THE LITTLE STRANGER tells the story of Dr Faraday, the son of a housemaid, who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country doctor. During the long hot summer of 1948, he is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall, where his mother once worked. The Hall has been home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries. But it is now in decline and its inhabitants - mother, son and daughter - are haunted by something more ominous than a dying way of life. When he takes on his new patient, Faraday has no idea how closely, and how disturbingly, the family’s story is about to become entwined with his own. THE LITTLE STRANGER LONG SYNPOSIS In the summer of 1948, after returning to the small village of Lidcote following the death of his widowed mother, Dr. Faraday (DOMHNALL GLEESON) is summoned by the Ayres family to Hundreds Hall to attend to their young maid, Betty (LIV HILL). He hasn’t laid eyes on Hundreds since an Empire Day Fete in 1919 when he was completely bewitched by the beauty of the Estate. Arriving, he is surprised and saddened to find the house and grounds much dilapidated and neglected. Faraday is greeted by Roderick Ayres (WILL POULTER), the only son and heir and now a severely disfigured WWII veteran, who directs him towards the kitchen to wait for his sister Caroline Ayres (RUTH WILSON). As he enters he is startled by a dog, Gyp, barking at him from the gloom. Caroline hurries to settle the dog and leads Faraday to Betty. Upon examination, Faraday realises that Betty isn’t actually unwell. She reveals that the gloomy house frightens her and she pretended to be ill so she might be sent home. Faraday covers for her and suggests to Caroline that she might be more understanding of her maid’s isolation, but Caroline scoffs at the idea. As Faraday is lead from the house he has an awkward meeting with the matriarch Mrs Ayres (CHARLOTTE RAMPLING), revealing to her that his mother had once been a maid in the house. Some days later, driving through the countryside, Faraday is forced to brake suddenly when Gyp bolts from the woods in front of his car, followed by Caroline. Faraday offers to give her a lift back to Hundreds, during which Caroline apologises for the way her family had treated him on his last visit. At the gates, Faraday enquires after Rod’s health and offers to help with his injured leg. Faraday returns to Hundreds to find Rod in the library where he now works and sleeps to avoid the pain his war injuries cause him walking up and down stairs. While treating his leg, the two men discuss the difficulty of maintaining an estate like Hundreds and Rod reveals his plan to try to sell some of their land. After the treatment, Caroline escorts Faraday to his car. Faraday confesses a childhood secret: at the Empire Day Fete, he had followed his mother into the kitchen and then snuck upstairs where, overcome at the beauty of Hundreds, he had broken off and stolen a plaster acorn from the mouldings around one of the mirrors. He also remembers a girl his own age who had been at the Fete that day. Caroline says that that must have been her older sister, Susan, who was taken ill on that same day and subsequently died. Some weeks later, Faraday bumps into Caroline in Lidcote and she invites him to a small drinks party at Hundreds. Faraday is uncomfortable given the social gulf between them but wants to be kind to her given his belief that only she is in a position to stop Rod allowing the Estate to fall into ruin. At the drinks party, Faraday goes to Rod’s room to persuade him to show his face. He finds Rod inebriated, refusing to leave his room because convinced that something terrible is going to happen. THE LITTLE STRANGER Caroline is having an equally unpleasant evening, as she realises that her mother has orchestrated the event in order to match make her with a family friend. She overhears one of the guests make a cruel remark about her appearance but her hurt is swiftly forgotten when Gyp appears to savage the young daughter of one of the guests. Faraday carries the child to the kitchen table and performs emergency surgery. Over the following weeks, Faraday focuses on his busy medical practice with the poor of the village. One day he is disturbed by shouting in the street and opens his surgery door to find a drunk Rod, celebrating the sale of part of the Hundreds estate, but he is also trying to hide his fear that there is something in the house that hates him and wants him gone. Faraday goes to Hundreds Hall and confides to Caroline that he is concerned about Rod’s state of mind. She has similar concerns; Rod claims to smell burning in the middle of the night yet there is no sign of any fire. Rod overhears their discussion about his mental health and feels betrayed – he reminds Faraday of his working-class roots and that he has no business advising him on how to run the Estate. Shocked and humiliated, Faraday leaves. Sitting alone in his flat that night, Faraday lights a cigarette and broods on Rod’s angry outburst. At the same time in Hundreds, Caroline awakes to the smell of burning. She runs to Rod’s room to find him trapped in the midst of flames. He survives the fire, but everyone suspects that he is responsible and, on Faraday’s suggestion, he is placed in a clinic. Faraday spends Christmas day with Caroline and Mrs Ayres. After dinner he picks up a photograph of the Empire Day celebration he had attended, and points himself out to Caroline, almost concealed behind Susan. The photograph triggers his memory of the trauma he suffered in 1919 when his mother caught him snapping the acorn from the mirror – she had punished him in front of Susan who had smiled as he was dragged back downstairs to the servants’ quarters. Faraday takes a walk with Caroline to inspect the plans for new social housing that will be built on the Estate lands that has been sold; she thanks him for the company, revealing her loneliness now that Rod has gone. To lift her spirits, Faraday invites her to the local hospital dance. At the event, Caroline and Faraday have fun but he is increasingly uncomfortable with the carefree abandon with which she throws herself into the dance. In the car on the way back to Hundreds, Caroline is giddy and flirtatious while Faraday is subdued and tense. As they draw close to the house, Caroline begs him to prolong the journey. Faraday stops the car and they kiss. But Caroline suddenly changes her mind, jumping from the car and rushing into the night. Faraday goes to London to deliver a lecture on his pioneering treatment of Rod’s leg. After the embarrassment of his fumbled kiss with Caroline, he considers moving to London to pursue his career, but on returning to Lidcote he is distracted by a message that Mrs Ayres has been taken ill. THE LITTLE STRANGER Faraday arrives at Hundreds where he is met by Caroline – both agree to forget about the fumbled kiss and to start over. Caroline leads Faraday into the drawing room to show him, in the corner where Gyp had attacked the girl, a number of “S” marks which have been discovered, carved into the window frame. She also leads him to her mother’s bedroom where Mrs Ayres shows Faraday a mass of similar “S” marks carved into the back of her wardrobe. Faraday explains to Caroline that the marks were most likely there all the time, made by Susan when she was a little girl – they’ve only been remembered now and re-discovered because Mrs Ayres’ memories have been stirred up by the trauma of recent events. Faraday says he wants to protect Caroline from her imaginings. Caroline feels reassured and when Faraday asks her to marry him, though taken aback, she doesn’t say no. Some days later, Faraday is at Hundreds and attempts to embrace Caroline who pulls away; worried that Betty might see them. Faraday explains that Betty will have to get used to seeing them kissing. Confused, Caroline reveals that she didn’t think they’d be living at Hundreds once they were married – her mother would never agree. But Faraday is adamant that they should remain at the house. Betty interrupts their conversation asking why they had rung for her. Caroline snaps that no one rang for her. Betty is insistent and takes her down to the kitchen where suddenly all of the service bells start to ring.